Lonely Hearts
by Cally Starkiller
Summary: Miranda Hawke's life was at a standstill after graduating from high school. But it starts to spiral out of control when she falls through a crack in time and space that takes her away into the time vortex and to the world of Doctor Who. With an autistic brother and a heavily troubled mother depending on her, can she make the decision to leave them behind to travel with the Doctor?
1. the time of magicians

**A/N: Hello, I think you'll be able to figure out what kind of story this is. Here's my spin on the idea. Read and review. Thank you. :)**

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The freezing brisk air tickles her checks, turning them pink from the cold. Miranda Hawke speeds up to get away from the dropping temperatures outside, hurrying up her pace so she doesn't miss first period. It's August and yet the cold and snow arrived early, just in time for school to start.

She manages to dodge a few ice patches on the way except for the last one on the corner of the sidewalk. Her boots fail her as she skids across the ice, smacking into the stop sign face first. With a cry of pain, she falls backwards expecting a hard landing only to find her backpack cushioned the fall.

"Wow," she mutters under her breath, rubbing the front of her face but she slowly stops when she realizes she's smearing her eyeliner. "You've got to be kidding-" A bright light emanating from the ground below her shuts her up mid-sentence. A cracking sound echoes around her and before she can scramble away, the crack swallows her whole.

It sends her through the time vortex, the turbulence spiraling her body around like a rag doll. The sight of it makes her eyes burn and tear up. It becomes too much for her so she throws her hands over her face. Her lungs and throat burn from her screaming as she's falling through the time vortex. She can feel it burn her up as the time winds chaotically toss her around before finally it all stops.

Her body jerks to a stop as it hits the ground. She sits up with a loud gasp for air, tears prickling the corners of her eyes. Miranda freezes in place, watching as the world around her comes into focus. Her eyebrows scrunch up in confusion when she sees she's into the same place as before. Nothing's changed. The small lake she was walking by was the same. The sidewalk below her was the same. The sky above her was the same. It was all the same. She must've been daydreaming, she concludes. But none of her daydreams have been that felt or looked that vivid or real before. She'll have to worry about it later because right now she needs to remember what she studied last night.

Miranda carefully stands back up, ignoring curious passerby's stares. She wobbles on her feet and reaches out for the stop sign to steady her. After she's sure she won't fall down again, she checks her phone only to see she has five minutes before school starts. With a quiet curse, Miranda continues down the sidewalk, opting to run on the side of the road so she doesn't have to worry about passing around slow people that were taking their leisurely morning walks.

Checking her phone for the time, she sees something in the reflection. It looks like a familiar blue box tumbling out of the sky and heading straight for her. Miranda slowly turns around and confirms what she saw. "What the-" The blue box soars overhead, barely missing her head by inches when she ducks. Things were getting weirder and weirder by the minute. She glances between the time on her phone and the box that was making a not so careful landing up ahead. Making her split-second decision, Miranda dashes for the box. She makes a left turn instead of a right turn to her high school.

The blue box which looks exactly the TARDIS opens its doors to reveal an old man in magician's clothes and a short girl in a skirt inside. Miranda says the only thing that comes to mind, "Hello."

"Hello," the magician replies happily.

"Hello," the short girl replies just as happily as the old man.

"Well come in already!" The magician grabs her hand and drags Miranda inside before shutting the door. "What are you doing here? Haven't seen you in awhile."

"I-" Miranda claps her hand over her mouth when she registers what she's seeing. It's the TARDIS. She runs back outside to look at it better. It's definitely the TARDIS. She circles around the blue box before running back inside. It's 100% the TARDIS. But it looks so different from what she remembers.

"What's gone wrong with your face? You're all eyes, just like Clara. Get them under control. Clara, help her control her eyes," the magician rambles on, pointing and waving a hand in her direction. "You're acting like you've never seen the TARDIS before." When she doesn't respond right away, he stops in his tracks. His voice sounds softer, less alarmed. "You haven't, have you?"

"Who are you?" Miranda manages to say as she's slowly backing away from the old man who was now walking towards her.

"I'm the Doctor," says the magician who looks to the short girl for help. The girl can only shrug but gives him a look that speaks volumes. The magician claiming to be the Doctor sighs once before grabbing Miranda's hand to make sure she doesn't run out of the TARDIS again. "This is Clara."

"Clara who?" Miranda stops staring at the old man to look at the girl he introduced. She doesn't recall seeing this girl in Doctor Who. She was pretty sure she hasn't seen this Doctor before either.

"Clara Oswald," the girl in the skirt answers, a small smile present. Clara looks to the Doctor for answers, her smile disappearing. The Doctor shakes his head, a lost look overtaking his face. He takes her other hand so she's now fully facing him.

"This must be her first time meeting us. I was wondering when this day would come," the Doctor says to Clara before focusing his attention on Miranda. He opens his mouth to speak but she beats him to the punch.

"No, no, this isn't possible," Miranda mumbles as she looks around the big room she's in. This can't be the TARDIS, it looks entirely different from what it's supposed to look like. "But it's bigger on the inside...but it can't be. This isn't real. You're not real."

"Listen. Miranda Hawke, I am real. Clara is real. The TARDIS is real," the magician tries his best to reassure her that everything is perfectly normal but she wasn't having any of it. It's all supposed to be fake, a TV show. A TV show that she spends hours upon hours of watching. Unless that weird trip through what was supposed to be the time vortex got her here. Or maybe that weird trip was just her dreaming after having been knocked out by a stop sign.

"You're not the Doctor. You can't be. The Doctor has a chin," Miranda gestures wildly to his face, making his hands move around rapidly with her. "Not unless-" Miranda shuts up, looking up at the magician with wide eyes. "Did you regenerate?"

"Yes," the Doctor replies, knowing what she means when she mentioned his chin. Clara seemed to get it too from the growing smile on her face, remembering what he looked like with that hazardous chin that could poke someone's eye out.

Miranda frowns, realizing she's getting real-time spoilers right now. She's waiting for series 7 of Doctor Who to air, having watched the trailer for it over and over again in anticipation. But now she's seeing this new Doctor with his new companion. That means Amy and Rory have left and the Doctor regenerated shortly after. Or did he? Maybe he meets this Clara shortly after Amy and Rory left. And then regenerated afterwards. Ugh, this was giving her a headache.

Upon seeing Miranda frown in response to him regenerating, he gently lets go of her hands and steps away a foot. "It's too early," the Doctor says quietly while Clara nods slowly in response.

"You're Scottish," Miranda states lamely, her voice starting to fail her. Words can't describe what she's feeling right now.

"And you're American," the Doctor replies swiftly, raising an eyebrow down at her.

Miranda wants to say the Doctor is supposed to sound 'English' or whatever but technically, the Doctor isn't really supposed to be anything. He just is. He can look like an old man or a person of youth. He can sound Northern or he can sound Scottish. So the new Doctor is Scottish. It must be because of Amy, Miranda guesses. This guess only makes her frown deepen. She finds herself drowning in her thoughts.

"Doctor-" Clara starts but doesn't continue when she sees his crestfallen face. It's not often she sees that expression on his face. When she finds that none of them were going to continue talking, Clara starts again. "Miranda, we're your friends. We're-"

"Did you just say Miranda?" A familiar voice asks from behind the console. The owner of the voice makes their way around until they're facing the group. Miranda's eyes widen again at who it is.

"Jack?" Miranda blurts out, confused as to why they were traveling with Captain Jack Harkness. The Doctor hasn't traveled with Jack in a long, long time. Now this was definite spoilers.

"Miranda!" Jack cheers when he sees her, running up to her to greet her with a tight hug, spinning her around laughing. When he notices she isn't hugging back, he lets go and steps away a foot just like the Doctor. "Miranda?"

"Jack. This is her first time meeting us," the Doctor explains softly, still looking dejected at what's going on. Miranda feels a twinge of guilt at how disappointed he sounds, but knows it can't be her fault. Not really.

"Doc, you're kidding right?" Jack spins around to face him but when he doesn't reply, he looks to Clara for answers. "Tell me he's kidding."

"He's not." Clara fumbles with her hands, unsure of what to say or do. She doesn't like the Doctor's or Miranda's or Jack's reaction so far.

"Miri, you know me right?" Jack turns to Miranda but one look at her wide eyes and gaping mouth, he knows they're right.

"I know of you. Okay, what's going on? What am I doing here? I'm supposed to be going to school and I think I'm going to be really, really late. Not that I care much. But I haven't gotten this far yet and you guys are acting like you know me or something," Miranda rambles on, finally having enough of this. Doctor Who isn't real, no matter how much she wishes it was. She wasn't in some story where she magically appears in the universe of Doctor Who. The Doctor and his companions wouldn't be friends with her, not by a long shot. It's got to be some big stupid dream that she's going to laugh about later when she wakes up after getting knocked out by that stupid stop sign.

"We do know you," the Doctor cuts in, placing his hands in his pockets.

"But you can't," Miranda argues, staring all around her in the TARDIS. She's not sure if she likes how he's redecorated the place.

"Don't be ridiculous, Miranda. We're your friends, just like what Clara said," the Doctor argues back, wishing she'd snap out of it.

Miranda blinks. She steps closer to him, ignoring Jack and how his face looked. It made her heart hurt but it shouldn't. She doesn't know him personally, just knows of him. All from watching Doctor Who and Torchwood but she hasn't seen the latter show in a long time. Once she was close enough to look into the magician's eyes, she stops. There's truth in his eyes. It's like what they've said on the show. He's got ancient, sad eyes. And here he is, with those big eyes and attack eyebrows. She can feel her breath stop at the revelation. "You're real."

The Doctor can only smile. She sees him. Jack only backs away further until he's standing next to Clara, who is smiling brightly at the pair.

"But how did I get here?" Miranda asks, looking around the TARDIS console room for the umpteenth time.

"What do you remember last?" The Doctor asks instead.

"I was on my way to school. I, uh, I fell and hit the stop sign. Then there was this light and I was in the time vortex. I woke up and I was in the same spot from before, like I haven't moved at all. Then I saw your box falling through the sky and...well here we are, I suppose," Miranda recalls swiftly, rubbing the back of her head absentmindedly.

"Her first time traveling then," the Doctor says aside to Clara and Jack, who both remained quiet throughout the exchange. "Okay...what do you know so far about me?"

"Well you haven't regenerated yet. You're still traveling with Amy and Rory last I checked." Miranda tries to remember what she can from the series 6 finale and the series 7 trailer. "You go back to travel with the Ponds after dropping them off at their new house with their new car. I heard a rumor that they're fighting...also I think you married River Song."

Clara and Jack swivel their heads in the Doctor's direction at the mention of River Song's name and marriage. The Doctor ignores them. "All of that was ages ago. You still have some catching up to do," the Doctor explains while stepping closer to her. "How old are you, exactly? What year is it for you?"

"I'm sixteen?" Miranda answers with a tilt of her head. "And it's 2012."

"Ah. Definitely too early," the Doctor mumbles quietly before turning to look at Jack. With a wave of his hand, he warns him, "Don't even think about it, Jack."

"I wasn't going to do anything!" Jack protests from where he stands slightly behind Clara, who's trying not to laugh.

The Doctor rolls his eyes at Jack. Turning to Miranda, he smiles and takes her hand as he starts walking out of the TARDIS. "Where are you taking my Sunshine?" Jack calls out before the doors close behind the two.

"Sunshine?" Miranda half-laughs, raising an eyebrow back behind them. "You guys really do know me...I travel with you then?"

"You do. But in your future, it appears. You're younger than I remember when I traveled with you in the past," the Doctor answers, not letting go of her hand. Miranda wonders at this, at what kind of relationship she has with him. Purely friendship, she figures. It can't be anything more than that. There's no way. "Looks like you're going to have to wait a bit longer before you travel with us." Miranda mulls this over, biting her fingernail on the hand he isn't holding. "Oh, not the nail biting! You've got to stop doing that. You're always doing that. Same with the big uncontrollable eyes."

"Well now I've got to bite my nails in the future, thanks to you," Miranda drops her hand from her face, a grin appearing. The Doctor grumbles at that. Miranda takes this time to inspect him. No bowtie, no suspenders (although they call it braces), no tweed jacket. Just an outfit that screamed no-nonsense magician. Lots of lines on this face. That's probably the biggest difference between the Eleventh Doctor and the Doctor now. Although it looks terribly familiar. She wonders where he got the face from.

"What?" The Doctor looks down at her after noticing her wandering gaze.

"You're just...you're so different," Miranda admits, liking that she's the first one to see the new Doctor with his face. Well, not in this universe. But back in her world, where they're still in the Eleventh Doctor's era and there's no mention of Matt Smith leaving yet. And she's the first to know.

"New new Doctor," the Doctor replies with a knowing grin, reminding her of the New Earth episode.

"Am I there?" Miranda asks suddenly, her hand starting to feel a little sweaty from the hand-holding.

"You're always there," the Doctor answers. Seeing the face she's giving him, he says quickly, "Not in a bad way. You've always been there in my life-"

"Spoilers," Jack warns him as he steps out of the TARDIS with Clara following close behind. The Doctor gives him a pointed look.

"Great, now I've got you saying that," the Doctor grumbles. "I wasn't going to tell her, Captain Idiot."

"Right, sure you weren't," Jack fires back, crossing his arms. Miranda doesn't like the tension in the air and where it's leading to. The Doctor and Jack are supposed to be close friends and yet they're fighting, sort of. After the awkwardness was growing to be too much for her, Miranda breaks the silence.

"So who are you to me, Jack? I mean, the Doctor and Clara are my friends, apparently. But who are you?"

With a wink that didn't go unnoticed by the Doctor, Jack replies smoothly, "Captain Jack Harkness. Friends with a certain Miranda Hawke. My Sunshine."

Miranda laughs, a little relieved it wasn't anything more. "Alright, so we're friends. I can deal with that."

"Are you sure you wouldn't want to deal with anything more than that?" Jack asks suggestively who receives a smack in the arm from both the Doctor and Clara.

"I don't think so," Miranda immediately rejects the notion. She knows of his track record with relationships and flings with past boyfriends and girlfriends. She also knows of her own track record which is zero boyfriends, zero girlfriends, zero relationships or flings. The exact opposite of him. It would never work out. Just like the Doctor. She shakes the feelings away she has for the people standing in front of her, the people who were only supposed to exist in a TV show until about ten minutes ago.

"A shame," Jack says with what sounded like genuine disappointment. The Doctor sputters at him, practically pushing Clara and Jack back inside the TARDIS. "Doc-" The doors slam in his face.

The Doctor takes her hand again, seemingly comfortable around her. Miranda tries not to dwell on it and what it could mean. "So what now?"

"Now," the Doctor pauses, now refusing to look her in the eyes, "now I think it's time you went home."

"Home?" Did home still exist? Does he mean whatever her home is here, in the world of Doctor Who? Or her home, her real actual home, back from wherever she came from?

"You're too early," the Doctor states matter-of-factly.

"What does that mean?" Miranda scrunches her eyebrows at him, confusion coloring her face. "This isn't like River Song, is it?" There was no way she was going to end up in a similar situation as her, that would be too hard. Meeting each other backwards, always in the wrong time or date, never in sync with the Doctor.

The Doctor doesn't reply but sighs deeply, finally meeting her gaze. "I can't tell you."

"Can't I travel with you for a little bit?" Miranda wasn't too keen on the idea of going back, not after seeing the real TARDIS. But she knew she had to. She has to go back and wait for series 7 to air and to catch up on what the Doctor is doing.

"You can't." The words remind her of Bad Wolf Bay and she wonders if she's there too.

"Ask me anyway." Miranda can't leave, not without him at least asking her to travel with him in his blue box.

"Come with me," the Doctor asks but already knowing the answer.

"I can't," Miranda rejects the offer, like she knew she would. "I've got to finish high school. I've got family. I've got..." She trails off, not liking the way his eyes averted hers when she mentioned family.

"I understand." The Doctor lets go of her hand and heads back to his ship. Before he enters, he smiles one last time before leaving. The TARDIS dematerializes before her eyes and it's more beautiful than anything she's seen before. It's so much more better than what it is on the show. But it was so much more sad.

Miranda doesn't hear the small conversation the Doctor, Jack, and Clara have on the TARDIS after it left her behind...

...

"She wasn't even remotely interested in you," Clara comments. "Is that the first time someone's turned you down?"

Jack waves the universal sign for 'whatever' at her as she laughs. He sighs and turns to the Doctor who was being strangely quiet ever since they left. "Doc."

"What do you want, Jack?" The Doctor flips a lever and turns a switch, taking them out of the time vortex and into deep space.

"What if it never happens? What if she doesn't-" Jack worries but the Doctor stops him in his tracks.

"Time can be rewritten," the Doctor says casually, looking up from the console to face Jack.

"How can you say that? You can't let that happen!" Jack yells, a hint of urgency behind his pleads for the Doctor to not say that awful saying.

"Of course not, but what she decides to do is her own choice. I can't force her to do anything-" The Doctor argues back until Clara cuts into the conversation.

"Really? What happened to 'do as you're told'? What happened to 'rule one: the Doctor lies'?" Clara interjects.

"People don't need to be lied to," the Doctor replies, repeating himself from a previous conversation he had with Clara. "And 'do as you're told' is just a safeguard for you pudding brains."

"Doctor, please don't let it happen." Jack ignores the pudding brains insult.

"I can't prevent what hasn't happened yet," the Doctor snaps his eyes at him, eyebrows narrowing.

"But it happened." Jack's voice falters.

"But it didn't happen," Clara says clearly, placing her hand on his shoulder for comfort.

"Enough, you two are making my head hurt," Jack complains as he leaves the console room.

"He'll be fine," the Doctor says after Jack left for his room.

"But will she?" Clara asks. The Doctor doesn't have an answer for that.

...

After standing there for what felt like forever, Miranda finally leaves. As she turns around to begin walking away, a bright light appears around her. The crack swallows her whole before she can move away and again she's thrown into the time vortex. She tumbles around, burning all over, before she's back in the same place as before. She should be dead. How is she not dead? Jack died when he jumped on the TARDIS when it traveled in the time vortex, leaving him exposed to its elements. He came back to life but still, he died. So how is she alive?

Miranda gasps awake, all these unanswered questions in the forefront of her mind. She's completely forgotten what she studied the night before for her Algebra test. Her mind was a blur as she got back up for the second time to start walking to school.

The crack looked like the same one on the show, like the one on Amy's wall. It was said the crack could act as a portal or it could erase you from existence. All of her thoughts stop, as she shakes her head, groaning as the pain overcame her. She wasn't sure if it was from traveling in the time vortex or from hitting the stop sign.

Miranda contemplates on who she should tell about meeting the new Doctor and his new companion along with his new desktop design. She stops in her tracks. Since when did she start believing what happened was real? Well it had to be real. She couldn't possibly make up seeing the Doctor with his new face and the short girl in the skirt along with Captain Jack Harkness. She wasn't that creative with her imagination.

By the time she made it to school, first period was halfway over and she got a detention for being late with no excuse. During detention, she starts to draw lazy sketches of the Doctor's face and Clara's smile and Jack's wink and new desktop for the TARDIS. Her mind wanders far away, wondering when she'll see the Doctor next. It sounded like she was a part of his past, maybe his future.

After detention, she made her way home and turns on her TV but not before confirming that her little brother, Max, made it home safely and was picked up by either her dad, Michael, or her mom, Marie. Miranda starts re-watching all of the previous seasons of Doctor Who and Torchwood to make sure she remembers everything as accurate as possible just in case she ends up traveling with the Doctor in the future.

Miranda does this for the next three years, re-watching and doing her research on everything Doctor Who related. She finds out that Oswin Oswald turns out to be Clara Oswin Oswald who turns out to be Clara Oswald. She finds out what happened to the Ponds and how devastated the Doctor was afterwards. She finds out how the Doctor ends up meeting Clara and going on adventures with her. She finds out the mystery behind Clara Oswald, the Impossible Girl. She finds out that the War Doctor along with the Tenth Doctor and Eleventh Doctor brought back Gallifrey. She finds out how the Eleventh Doctor regenerated. But when the Doctor she met a few years ago pops up on her screen after he regenerated, she pauses it, her face echoing Clara's face at that moment.

It was true. This is his new face. Clara is still his companion. But no Jack yet. Miranda keeps on watching up until after series 8 and the Christmas special. That was it. There was no more Doctor Who, at least not for awhile.

...

Too much happened these past three years for Miranda. _Too much, _Miranda thinks with a deep set frown that never leaves her face as she looks back from where she came from. The tall iron gates close behind her, cutting off her view from the cemetery. After she turns away from the graveyard, Miranda's mind is set. She runs to the car she borrowed from her mom and drives it to work. She hands the hostess on duty her server's apron and takes her last check to cash it in. After driving back home, Miranda begins packing her bags with clothes and shoes and the essentials. When her mom comes home, she hands her the money from her last check and what's left in her bank account.

"What's this for?" Marie, her mom, asks as she tugs her long brown hair behind her ear.

"For everything," Miranda answers with a weak smile. She follows her mom outside where she takes out a cigarette and lights it. Her lungs choke on the oppressive smoke in the air as she sits down on the steps. She glares at the cigarette in her mother's hand but softens her gaze when she sees the distant look in her mom's eyes. She has seen that look far too often. It was time to bring life back in those once cheery brown eyes.

"Why?" Her mom asks while she takes a drag, blowing the smoke away from her face.

"Because I know it's been hard. And this is me, trying to make it easier," Miranda admits, biting her fingernail in nervousness. Ever since they had to move to a reservation in a state below Canada because of her dad's job, her life and everything in it was falling apart and becoming harder and harder to put back together.

"What are you talking about?" Marie puts out her cigarette to give her daughter her full attention.

"I'm giving you this money to help make things better. I don't know how much longer I'll be here so I thought I'd help you guys out a bit," Miranda says, her smile now encouraging with no sign of a frown.

"Miranda I-" Marie turns to her daughter and after seeing the smile on her face, she forgets what she has to say and embraces her tightly, grateful for the money. After all was said and done with her mother, Miranda makes her way to her small little room down the hall. She puts on her backpack and grabs her suitcase. She figures it has to be time to see the Doctor again. She'd older now, at age 19. She at least deserves one trip through time and space. But Clara's words from a particularly painful episode echo in her mind.

_"Nobody deserves anything. But I am owed better. I am owed." _

"Please..." Miranda asks no one in particular. Minutes pass by and nothing happens. When she's sure that nothing was going to happen at all, the crack appears below her. It engulfs her and sends her into the time vortex. The burning pain feels familiar now, more familiar than it should be. Miranda's only done this twice, not counting this time but she feels like she'd done this before. Where did she go that time? Memories of a roof and a tall building are all she can remember. Before she can contemplate on the forgotten memory some more, Miranda finds herself on a glass surface with her bags lying beside her.

"Because she's the future. My future." There was talking, the voices familiar.

"Can you run away from that?" A Scottish voice asks.

"I can run away from anything I like. Time is not the boss of me," a boyish voice says.

Miranda gasps loudly for air as she lies face down on the glass floor. She can only see a pair of blue converses and a pair of black boots. "What about her?"

"What about who?" The owner of the black boots swivel around to face the fallen figure. Miranda looks up and groans as she figures out where she's at. The Eleventh Doctor and Amy Pond. In the TARDIS. With River Song outside. Along with an army of weeping angels. Not exactly the first adventure she wanted to have. It was the time of angels.


	2. don't fear the angel

**A/N: Wow, thanks for all the follows, favorites, and reviews! Alright, I've got a couple episodes and some TARDIS downtime planned but any suggestions for a particular episode or anything are welcome. More backstory to be mentioned later on. I already know the perfect episode to present it more. Thanks again. :)**

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"Miranda!" The Doctor's excitement when seeing her in the TARDIS makes his eyes shine brighter than the sun reflecting off a turbulent river. He hoists her up, making sure she's steady on her feet before he lets go.

"Present," she croaks and ends up coughing to get rid of the itch in her throat. "Oh, that's not fun."

"You okay Miranda?" Amy asks from where she stood, concern written on her face. Miranda nods, thinking over the looks the Doctor and Amy gave her just then. They were concerned for her safety. It was almost as if they cared about what happened to her. So she's definitely friends with this regeneration of the Doctor. It looks like she's on her way to becoming close friends with Amy as well. Miranda smiles at this little fact. Amy was one of her favorite characters, along with many others.

"We were going to see a planet. That's a planet out there, right?" Amy looks to him for confirmation with a wide grin.

"Yes, of course it's a planet," the Doctor confirms but doesn't look at Amy. He's focusing on the bags beside Miranda with a strange look..

"You promised me a planet. Five minutes?" Amy can barely contain her excitement, bouncing on her heels.

"Okay, five minutes," the Doctor gives in.

"Yes!" Amy cries out in joy, running off to the doors.

"But that's all, because I'm telling you now, that woman is not dragging me into anything." But it's no use. Amy is already out the doors and exploring. With Amy gone, the Doctor turns to face Miranda who was standing there quietly watching the entire exchange. His expression is serious, concerned. It baffles her. "Are you alright?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" Miranda asks defensively, casting her gaze to the floor, not looking up when the Doctor approaches her. He picks up her suitcase and silently asks for her backpack. Miranda wordlessly hands it to him, finding it hard to breath. The Doctor was standing right in front of her. It was like meeting a celebrity. No, it was more than that. It was like meeting her hero who has dashed across her TV screen for many years to save the day. And it was taking all of her willpower not to crush him with a hug or to run away and hide. Because if the Doctor was real, then so were the monsters.

"What's wrong?" When she doesn't answer him right away, the Doctor sets her luggage on the nearby seats and returns by her side. He holds out his hand for her to take. "How many times have you seen me?"

"This will be the second time...I think." Miranda doesn't take his hand at first, not until he wiggles his fingers and nudges her hand with his. She grabs his hand with a suppressed smile. "First time going on an adventure, though."

"Is five minutes on a planet okay with you? We can go somewhere else afterward, if you'd like." The Doctor heads for the door, taking her with him. He fights the urge to frown. Still too early.

"I get the feeling this is going to be more than five minutes," Miranda mumbles unhappily, not liking how this episode goes. It was time to start deciding how she's going to play a role from now on. Play the bystander or be the one who steals all the lines or actively try and save people. The Doctor was about to ask what she means until he overhears Amy and River talking nearby.

"What caused it to crash?" Amy asks River, peering at the burning wreck of a ship sticking out of the rock carved building.

"Not me," River answers, not noticing the presence of Miranda, who was hiding behind the Doctor and enjoying the view.

"Nah, the airlock would've sealed seconds after you blew it. According to the Home Box, the warp engines had a phase shift. No survivors," the Doctor explains, nudging Miranda out from behind him.

"A phase shift would have to be sabotage. I did warn them," River says with a tsk.

"About what?" The Doctor asks, not expecting Miranda to answer him.

"At least the building was empty. The Aplan temple has been unoccupied for centuries," Miranda cuts in, knowing that this is half the truth. Instead the Aplan temple is being occupied by weeping angels. Weak ones but stone angels of death all the same. Fantastic.

"Correct." River turns to look at the owner of the voice. Miranda holds her breath, not knowing how she'll react to her. When she sees it's Miranda, a smile that suggests they're friends appears. She lets go of her breath, smiling back in return. Miranda likes the character of River. She's always thought of her as a force to be reckoned with. Except there were moments that she wished her character could've went down a different path. But regardless, she could learn to like River more. Starting now because apparently River is running over to give her a hug.

"Hello, dear." River tightly hugs her before letting go. She gives her a once over, taking in her appearance. "Is this your first time?"

"Um...yes," Miranda says softly, a little shocked at all the affection she's been getting.

"Ah." Her smile grows bigger if that were possible. "Don't worry dear, we're going to have lots of fun."

"Aren't you going to introduce us?" Amy interrupts, overly interested in the interactions between the three.

"Amy Pond, Professor River Song." At this time, Miranda begins to tune the conversation out. She's familiar with what happens next and mentally pushes the skip button. She wanders along the beach, over to where the soldiers would appear. What happens to the soldiers in the temple was another thing she had to over think. Nope, definitely not going to be a fun five minutes.

"And you are so wrong. There's one survivor. There's a thing in the belly of that ship that can't ever die. Now he's listening." River uses her communicator to call the clerics. "You lot in orbit yet? Yeah, I saw it land. I'm at the crash site. Try and home in on my signal. Doctor, can you sonic me? I need to boost the signal so we can use it as a beacon." The Doctor grudgingly does so and its the first time Miranda sees him use his sonic screwdriver. Her eyes remain glued to his sonic, completely fascinated, until he puts it away in his jacket pocket.

"Ooh, Doctor, you soniced her," Amy teases. Miranda rolls her eyes while the Doctor ignores her. River comes back to join them.

"We have a minute. Shall we?" She opens up her blue diary and it sends a chill down Miranda's spine. "Where are we up to? Have we done the Bone Meadows?"

"What's the book?" Amy tries to peer over to take a peek but Miranda shakes her head at her.

"Stay away from it," the Doctor warns.

"What is it though?" Amy insists, her curiosity soaring.

"Her diary." The Doctor looks at the blue book with suspicion. Miranda starts to inch closer next to River, not going unnoticed by the woman.

"Our diary," River corrects, giving Miranda a wink. This stops her. Her big brown eyes grow wide, the chill returning.

"Am I in there?" Miranda hesitantly asks, part of her wanting to read the mysterious diary. She doesn't see the harm in it. She already knows what happens in the Doctor's past and future for the most part. It's not like she can make that big of an impact in his life. Or River's life. But according to the steady gaze River is giving her, it's the exact opposite.

"Yes, dear," River nods solemnly.

"Her past, my future. Time travel. We keep meeting in the wrong order," the Doctor says out of frustration, but he sounds more irritated here than he did in the episode. Miranda doesn't want to know why.

"Kind of like you and Miranda, right?" All three face Amy with inquiring looks, waiting for her to continue. "Your past, her future."

"Sort of." The Doctor doesn't appear comfortable with the topic, glancing worriedly between Miranda and River. Just as Amy opens her mouth to say more, four small tornadoes kick up dust and turn into four soldiers. The sight of them makes Miranda's stomach turn. Decisions, decisions. As if there wasn't enough to worry about.

"You promised me an army, Doctor Song," the man Miranda recognizes as Octavian steps up to the four. Guilt churns at her, forcing her to push the feelings down. One crisis at a time.

"No, I promised you the equivalent of an army. This is the Doctor and his companions," River states, gesturing to the three.

"Father Octavian, Sir. Bishop, second class. Twenty clerics at my command. The troops are already in the drop ship and landing shortly. Doctor Song was helping us with a covert investigation. Has Doctor Song explained what we're dealing with?"

"The weeping angels," Miranda answers for them, watching as all their heads turn to her.

…

It was growing dark out and by the time the rest of the troops arrived with their supplies in their drop ship, it was night time. Miranda settles for roaming around the small camp they built around the container unit. From where she's wandering, she can hear the conversation between Octavian and the Doctor perfectly. Normally she wouldn't eavesdrop but it's to help re-jog her memory of what happens here. Besides death and angels in forests and cracks in time, that is.

"The Angel, as far as we know, is still trapped in the ship. Our mission is to get inside and neutralize it. We can't get through up top, we'd be too close to the drives. According to this, behind the cliff face there's a network of catacombs leading right up to the temple. We can blow through the base of the cliffs, get into the entrance chamber, then make our way up," Octavian explains his plan to the Doctor.

"Oh, good," the Doctor responds cheerfully.

"Good, sir?" Octavian asks in confusion.

"Catacombs. Dark scary ones. Sounds great," Miranda chimes in, faking her cheeriness too.

"Technically, I think it's called a maze of the dead," Octavian corrects her, causing her to frown a little.

"You can stop any time you like," the Doctor says, starting to see how scared Miranda was getting. She never was a fan of the Weeping Angels but she insisted on staying by his side despite his protests.

"Father Octavian?" A soldier calls for him before he can creep them out further.

"Excuse me, sir." Octavian finally leaves to her relief.

"You're letting people call you sir. You never do that. So, whatever a Weeping Angel is, it's really bad, yeah?" Amy jumps up from her seat and Miranda is ready to warn her about the Weeping Angels but the Doctor cuts in.

"Now that's interesting. You're still here. Which part of wait in the TARDIS till I tell you it's safe was so confusing?" The Doctor shoots Amy a look which she ignores. Miranda fidgets next to him, preparing to exert her eyes to their breaking point. There was no way she was going to miss facing down the Weeping Angels, no matter how terrified she is of them. Face your fears, all that fun stuff. It would help for later on, in case she has to stare them down in the future. Hopefully that never happens.

"Ooh, you are all Mister Grumpy Face today," Amy gives him her own look, copying his agitated face. He ignores her and goes into his own explanation of the Weeping Angels.

"A Weeping Angel, Amy, is the deadliest, most powerful, most malevolent life form evolution has ever produced, and right now one of them is trapped inside that wreckage and I'm supposed to climb in after it with a screwdriver and a torch, and assuming I survive the radiation long enough and assuming the whole ship doesn't explode in my face, do something incredibly clever which I haven't actually thought of yet. That's my day. That's what I'm up to. Any questions?"

"Is River Song your wife? Because she's someone from your future, and the way she talks to you, I've never seen anyone do that. Besides Miranda, of course-" Amy stops immediately at the sight of Miranda's big eyes and the Doctor's hand over her mouth.

"Yes, you're right. I am definitely Mister Grumpy Face today," the Doctor says after removing her hand from his mouth. He avoids Miranda's wide eyed stare. She doesn't like what that sentence implied. She hopes it just means she's friendly with the Doctor in the future, like close friends. Before she can continue her train of thought, River starts calling around from the drop module, now dressed in combat fatigues.

"Father Octavian." River goes around them to reach said man.

"Why do they call him Father?" Amy inquires.

"Because he's their Bishop, they're his Clerics. By the fifty first Century the Church has moved on," Miranda answers for her, nearly reciting his line word for word. The Doctor nods to confirm, an impressed smile crossing his face.

Later on they all surround the monitor that shows them the grainy image of a Weeping Angel with its back towards them. A shudder runs through Miranda, shaking her head at the sight. It almost makes her want to double back to the TARDIS but she stands her ground, hoping to get through her experience with the Weeping Angel with Amy by her side.

"What do you think? It's from the security cameras in the Byzantium vault. I ripped it when I was on board. Sorry about the quality. It's four seconds. I've put it on loop," River explains quickly.

"Definitely an Angel. Hands covering its face. Looking vaguely sinister," Miranda says as she points to the image.

"You've encountered the Angels before," Octavian looks to her surprised. She shrugs and mentions something about knowing of them, giving him a weak explanation. He accepts it and turns to the Doctor for his input.

"Once, on Earth, a long time ago. But those were scavengers, barely surviving," the Doctor says.

"But it's just a statue," Amy protests, waiting for them to explain further.

"It's a statue when you see it. Something to do with quantum lock," Miranda mumbles through her hand, biting on her fingernails. The Doctor notices and smacks her hand lightly, making her drop her hand with a sigh.

"Where did it come from?" The Doctor asks River.

"Oh, pulled from the ruins of Razbahan, end of last century. It's been in private hands ever since. Dormant all that time," River says casually.

"There's a difference between dormant and patient." The Doctor frowns at her.

"What's that mean, it's a statue when you see it?" Amy asks further, still confused by their current conversation.

"The Weeping Angels can only move if they're unseen..." Miranda starts but realizes she doesn't know exactly how to explain them to somebody who hasn't seen them before.

Seeing her hesitation, the Doctor finishes for her. "It's a quantum lock, like Miranda said. In the sight of any living creature the Angels literally cease to exist. They're just stone. The ultimate defense mechanism."

"What, being a stone?" Amy scrunches up her face at the Weeping Angel in the four second clip.

"Being a stone until you turn your back." Miranda hopes she sees the severity of the situation, reminding herself to tell Amy not to look at it in the eyes. Miranda stands next to the drop ship, waiting while they talked about the Angel's dinner plans and the Aplans.

"Anybody need me? Nobody?" Amy shouts at the others except they pay her no mind, continuing on with their work. Amy's outburst broke Miranda out of her daydreams. She follows Amy into the Module to have a look at the image of the Angel on the monitor. Except it's changed, Miranda realizes with fear. Its face is raised from its hands and is starting to look over its shoulder.

"Doctor Song? Did you have more than one clip of the Angel?" Amy asks, taking her eyes off the monitor. Miranda keeps looking at it, not wanting to see it move again, fear now controlling her actions.

"No, just the four seconds," River answers, going back to her conversation with the Doctor. "It's so strange when you go all baby face. How early is this for you?"

"Very early," the Doctor confirms.

"What about Miranda? She says this is her first time traveling with you." River flickers her gaze between the book and the Doctor, gauging his response. He reacts like she knew he would. Sadness and disappointment makes his baby face disappear for a moment. "Ah. I see. Well, you should take her somewhere nicer after this."

"How do you know her?" The Doctor asks, flipping through the book to keep his idle hands busy.

"Careful, sweetie. Spoilers," River warns him. He accepts this with a huff. "So you don't know who I am yet?"

"How do you know who I am? I don't always look the same," the Doctor counters.

"I've got pictures of all your faces. You never show up in the right order, though. I need the spotter's guide," River says, wondering if she can get Miranda to help her with that.

"Pictures. Why aren't there pictures?" He flips through the book of the mad man again, reading it upside and sideways.

Back inside the Module, Miranda is keeping her gaze steady, resisting the urge to blink. Sweat starts to pile on the back of her neck and she adjusts her long hair carefully. "So...nice to meet you," Miranda turns to look at Amy but freezes when she recognizes her mistake.

The Angel is now looking straight at them, hands completely lowered. The time stamp has moved as far as 00:11:28:04 before jumping back to 00:11:24:23. "What?" Amy looks at Miranda but when she sees her terrified face, she swiftly returns to staring at the monitor. She gasps when she finds that it got closer. The module door closes and locks behind them, leaving them trapped with the stupid Angel.

"Sorry," Miranda whispers to her. "It's my first time meeting you, I think."

"Really?" Amy asks incredulously, but she believes her. It explains a few things. Especially the part where Miranda was staring at her oddly back in the camp, like she couldn't believe she was standing before her. Amy goes on to talk further but notices the remote sitting on the counter nearby. She tries turning off the monitor, but it comes back on again, and again, and again. She moves closer to the monitor with Miranda next to her. "But you're just a recording. You can't move."

"That which holds the image of an angel becomes itself an angel," Miranda mouths silently to herself. She repeats herself this time, turning to Amy while she's trying to pull out the lead to the monitor. When they look back up, the Angel is closer to the screen but the time stamp is still running through the same four seconds. "Oh my god. I'm sorry. It's turning into an Angel."

"Doctor?" Amy calls out as Miranda grabs her arm to drag her away from the monitor. She tries to open the door but it's no use, she realizes miserably. Miranda racks her brain for this particular part of the episode, trying to remember how Amy got out. When she looks back to the Angel, its mouth is open wide. "Doctor!"

"An image of a Angel becomes itself an Angel," Miranda repeats to herself as she grabs the remote Amy dropped on the floor. She quickly hands it to her right when the image of the Angel gets closer.

"Doctor! It's in the room!" Amy yells for help, banging her hands on the door to get their attention.

"Amy!" The Doctor's voice is muffled but the two of them can hear him come closer to the door.

"Doctor, please!" Miranda shouts through the door, her senses exploding with fear at the sight of the nearing Angel. "The door's locked!"

"Miranda! Are you all right? What's happening?" The Doctor grew more concerned, taking out his sonic screwdriver and begins messing with its controls.

"Doctor? Doctor, it's coming out of the television," Amy calls out to him, fumbling with the remote Miranda gave her."The Angel is here."

Meanwhile the Doctor sonics the keypad lock but to no avail. "Don't take your eyes off it. Keep looking. It can't move if you're looking."

"Don't blink, Amy," Miranda warns her. Another pressing thought pushes to the front of her mind. She's supposed to warn her about something else.

"What's wrong?" River asks worriedly.

"Deadlocked," the Doctor groans, slapping his sonic.

"There is no deadlock," River says. "What are you doing?"

"Cutting the power. It's using the screen, I'm turning the screen off. No good, it's deadlocked the whole system," the Doctor racks his brain for more solutions.

"There's no deadlock," River repeats.

"There is now," the Doctor angrily replies.

"Help me," Amy asks Miranda, who's standing next to the door shaking.

"Turn off the screen," Miranda regains her senses when Amy grabs her hand, giving it a tight squeeze.

"I already tried that," Amy tells her, but at her serious expression she tries again. She fumbles with the remote and drops it on the floor. Miranda sighs and reaches down for it.

"Each time it moves, it'll move faster. Don't even blink," the Doctor warns them from outside while River is trying to cut through the door with her pistol torch.

Amy closes one eye at a time, winking at the Angel. If the situation wasn't so terrifying, Miranda would've laughed. "I'm not blinking. Have you ever tried not blinking?" Miranda grabs the remote and tosses it to her, keeping her distance away from the Angel. "It just keeps switching back on."

"Yeah, it's the Angel," the Doctor explains unhelpfully.

"But it's just a recording," Amy argues weakly.

"No. Image of an Angel is an Angel," Miranda repeats again, trying to remember. Oh and all of those times she re-watched the show only to forget her knowledge.

"Why do you keep saying that?" Amy asks, pressing the on and off button over and over again.

"What are you doing?" The Doctor asks River through clenched teeth.

"I'm trying to cut through. It's not even warm," River says exasperated at her pistol torch.

"There is no way in. It's not physically possible," the Doctor shouts.

"Just keep looking at it. Don't stop looking," Miranda says, using it as her mantra to calm herself down.

"What's it going to do to me?" Amy asks, fear in her voice. Miranda frowns, disappointed in herself. This problem should've been solved already. She needs to focus, needs to help Amy more. "Just tell me."

"Amy. Look at the Angel. Don't look at the eyes," Miranda tightens her hold on Amy's hand, trying her best to reassure her.

"Why?" Amy asks. It's too late now, Miranda realizes as she hears the Doctor read a passage from the book outside the door.

"The eyes are not the windows of the soul. They are the doors. Beware what may enter there," the Doctor reads.

"What did you say about images?" Amy asks her, raising the remote more confidently.

"Whatever holds the image of an Angel, is an Angel," Miranda says, a small smile appearing as she remembers at the same time Amy figures it out.

"Okay, hold this. One, two, three, four." Amy presses pause on the remote just as the tape loop returns to the start. The image turns to static. The Doctor and River burst in as the monitor turns off, the Angel disappearing.

"I froze it. There was a sort of blip on the tape and I froze it on the blip. It wasn't the image of an Angel any more. That was good, yeah? It was, wasn't it? That was pretty good," Amy smiles, nudging Miranda. She weakly smiles back, not feeling quite as triumphant as Amy.

"That was amazing," River says proudly.

"River, hug Amy and Miranda," the Doctor points to the two.

"Why?" Amy narrows her eyes at him. Miranda merely turns away from them, her frown returning to stay.

"Because I'm busy." The Doctor fails to notice Miranda walking out of the room as he steps up closer to the monitor.

"I'm fine," Amy argues.

"You're brilliant," River glares at the Doctor while she hugs Amy.

"Thanks. Yeah, I kind of creamed it, didn't I?" Amy laughs a little. She goes to hug Miranda but doesn't see her. She leaves the room to look for her after hearing an explosion from outside.

"Doctor? We're through," Octavian reports.

"Okay, now it starts," the Doctor says, clapping his hands together.

"Coming?" River looks behind her at Amy.

"Yeah, coming. There's just something in my eye," Amy complains as she rubs at her eyes. Miranda comes back to walk beside Amy as they leave the camp. "There you are. Where'd you go?"

"Oh. Nowhere," Miranda avoids her eyes out of guilt. She should've handled that better. A lot better. She's supposed to know what happens, to be the expert, to help out the Doctor and others when they're taking too long to figure out the solution. She's not supposed to freeze out of fear or forget crucial information when it's needed most. Miranda has often wondered if she'd make a good companion or thinks about how she'd react in certain situations. This just showed her she isn't exactly companion material. At least, not yet. Time to fix that. Miranda hides her frown as she vows to make up for her mistake. "Let's go. I love catacombs."


	3. don't fear the angel pt II

**A/N: For some reason, I tend to finish my chapters at 3 in the morning. Oh well. Thanks for any and all reviews/follows/favorites/etc! :) **

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Everyone begins to climb down the rope ladder but Miranda finds herself having troubles. She was never good at ladders. Or rope. So rope ladders don't equal a good combination for her. "You okay?" The Doctor calls up, watching her struggle to get down.

"Course I'm okay," Miranda lies as she's slowly making her way down the stupid rope ladder. She curses when she slips on the rope and it burns her hands.

"You sure?" The Doctor masks his urge to laugh before coming over to lend her a hand. She reluctantly takes his hand, not prepared for when he jerks their hands and she goes tumbling off the ladder and into his arms.

"Don't ever do that again!" Miranda warns him, her brown eyes wide and mouth slightly agape.

"I promise," the Doctor says with a cheery smile, laughing at her facial expression. He places a kiss on her forehead before setting her feet on the ground and letting her go. Miranda glares at him when his back his turned, ignoring the burning sensation on her forehead from the small insignificant kiss.

"Do we have a gravity globe?" The Doctor asks the clerics as he saunters away from her, the moment passed.

"Grav globe." A Cleric hands the globe to him.

"Where are we? What is this?" Amy stares at the wide expanse of darkness before them.

"Aplan Mortarium. The Maze of the Dead. Spooky catacombs," Miranda answers, eyeing a nearby statue hiding in the dark. She makes the 'I'm watching you' gesture at it, turning away from the statues to stand closer to the group.

"What's that?" Amy asks.

The Doctor turns the grav glob over in his hands. "Well, if you happen to be a creature of living stone..." He kicks the globe into the air, where it illuminates a vast array of mausoleums and statuary. "The perfect hiding place."

"I guess this makes it a bit trickier," Octavian says.

"A bit, yeah." The Doctor agrees.

"A stone Angel on the loose amongst stone statues. A lot harder than I'd prayed for," Octavian admits.

"A needle in a haystack," River comments, shining her light over a few statues.

"A needle that looks like hay. A hay-like needle of death. A hay-like needle of death in a haystack of, er, statues. No, yours was fine," the Doctor rambles. He turns to Miranda when he hears her gasp for air. She's failing at muffling her laughter at this point. She mouths to him, 'Really?' He huffs at her and turns away, ignoring Amy's laugh at Miranda's reaction.

"Right. Check every single statue in this chamber. You know what you're looking for. Complete visual inspection. One question. How do we fight it?" Octavian orders his Clerics before turning to the Doctor.

"We find it, and hope," the Doctor replies before moving on past him. Miranda rolls her eyes at his answer. Not quite that easy. In fact, it was all going to go downhill from here.

"They don't know yet, do they? Who and what you are." Octavian says as he stops River from moving. Miranda overhears them and starts to rack her brain for this particular conversation. He said 'they'. That wasn't right. The want to stomp over and correct them or to get answers was overwhelming but she stood her ground. She awkwardly stands nearby, trying not to look too obvious that she's listening in.

"It's too early in his time stream," River answers.

"What about her?" Octavian discreetly gestures to Miranda, who manages to avoid their stares.

"She knows everything. But I'm afraid there's one part of the story she doesn't know," River admits, watching Miranda carefully tiptoe away from them. Miranda tries getting her face under control, shutting her eyes and covering her mouth with her hand in order stop herself from blurting out 'what part of the story?'.

"Well, make sure they don't work it out, or they're not going to help us," Octavian warns her, his face serious. After that, Miranda refuses to hear any more and tunes them out. She vaguely hears Amy and River talk about the Maze of the Death but doesn't participate in their conversation, mind occupied with the possibilities of what River could mean behind 'one part of the story she doesn't know'.

"There, you see. I lied. It's a viro-stabilizer. Stabilizes your metabolism against radiation, drive burn, anything. You're going to need it when we get up to that ship," River explains the shot she gave Amy. Seeing that Miranda was distracted, River sneaks up behind her and injects the viro-stabilizer in her arm. Miranda shouts in surprise, the Doctor looking over his shoulder at her with a worried expression. She waves him off.

"Seriously?" Miranda stares at River in disbelief, rubbing her arm from the shot. That's what she gets for not paying attention. River just flashes her a smile and walks away back to Amy. Stupid River.

After Amy's laughter dies down and she sees that Miranda is out of earshot, she asks River, "So what are they like? In the future, I mean. Because you know them in the future, don't you?"

"The Doctor? Well, the Doctor's the Doctor," River says carefully with zero emotions, face blank and calculating. "And Miranda. Oh, Miranda. Well, she's just Miranda."

Miranda's ears perk up at the sound of her name being said three times but doesn't look back at the gossiping pair. She already knows what they're talking about anyway. Except the part about her. That's new too. Miranda heads over to where the Doctor is standing and helps him turn his handheld device the right way before River can comment on it.

"Oh. Well, that's very helpful. Mind if I write that down?" Amy says sarcastically, frowning at the non-answers she receives.

"Yes, we are," River says, looking over at the Doctor and Miranda.

"Sorry, what?" The Doctor asks, still pretending to be busy with his handheld device. Miranda turns her back on them, covering her growing smile with her hand.

"Talking about you two."

"I wasn't listening. I'm busy," the Doctor shows her the device he's working on, waving it in the air the right way around.

"Right. What he said." Miranda grabs his arm and lowers it to her level, wanting to see what he's working on. There were letters and numbers and who knows what else floating around on the screen. Miranda chalks it up as a bunch of space nonsense when she can't decipher its meaning right away and lets go of his arm. She catches the look in his eye and doesn't like what she sees. So many questions wanting to be asked and a myriad of growing conflicts were hidden behind his ancient eyes. Miranda breaks eye contact and steps a foot away from him.

"You're so his wife," Amy says smugly, absolutely convinced of this fact ever since River entered the TARDIS.

"Oh, Amy, Amy, Amy. This is the Doctor we're talking about. Do you really think it could be anything that simple?" She spares Miranda a glance.

"Yep."

"You're good. I'm not saying you're right, but you are very good," River praises her, grinning away.

The Doctor closes the distance between him and Miranda. "What's wrong?"

Now that's a dangerous question. There were lots of things wrong. The currently growing army of Weeping Angels. The fact that she still doesn't know how she got here in the first place. Her current form of traveling via time vortex and yet she lives? And why specifically _her_? Is she able to reveal certain truths, certain answers for the Doctor, to help him save the day faster? Would saving people who weren't able to be saved in the show cause a paradox? Certainly not _all _of the people who died on the show were meant to die, right? It was only because the Doctor wasn't able to get there fast enough or there wasn't enough time or whatever the reason. Besides isn't that the whole point of traveling with the Doctor? To save lives, save the day, save the world, save the universe, save everything. She wants to make sure it isn't just this once, but all the time, where everybody lives. But she can't blurt all this out to the Doctor. There's no one to turn to for advice.

All of her thoughts took her a few minutes to process and over think about and the Doctor noticed. He nudges her, worry written all over his face. Before he can repeat the question, Miranda says in the best reassuring voice she can muster, "Nothing. It's just the Weeping Angels. Bit spooky."

Something tells her that he didn't believe her lie. He looks ready to push the issue further but Miranda stops him, hopefully asking a simple question that would help her current dilemma. "If you knew something, knew that you could do something to help save a life...would you? I mean-"

"Miri, do you know something? Is it your limited omniscience?" The Doctor asks, seriousness set in his voice.

"Limited what?" Miranda furrows her eyebrows but then remembers something she read in her English text book. It referred to different writing style and the many types of narrators there are. Omniscient is when the narrator is "all-knowing" of every character and limited omniscient is when the narrator is only "all-knowing" about a small group of people. That could work for her. Now she doesn't have to worry so much about explaining how she knows everything or almost everything. No need to mention she comes from a world where they're all fake and part of a TV show. That could go wrong in so many ways.

"Oh, sorry. My limited 'all-knowing' psychic ability? Yeah, that's it." Miranda blurts out after figuring out what he meant. Maybe the psychic part was a bit much but she could just say she's a 'little psychic' from now for the short answer in case someone asks. Unless someone really pushes for the real answer. Then the omniscient explanation could be used.

"Miranda." He places his hands on her shoulders, lowering his head down to her level. "I know this is all new for you and it might take a while to understand. But whatever it is that you know, you can't tell me."

"What? Like at all? I can't say anything at all?" Miranda's hopes start to drop.

"No. You can tell me certain things. Just not everything and you have to put it in as few words as possible," the Doctor explains. "Because there are going to be times where you can't save everybody and their lives were meant to end there. It just is. But there are going to be other times where you'll be able to save certain people from certain death. Miranda, I trust you to know when those times are."

"I don't understand-" She shakes her head at him. He rests his forehead against hers and shuts his eyes for a moment. Miranda stands still, not daring to move an inch.

"I know. Don't worry, we'll get through this," the Doctor says before pulling her in a hug.

"But how can you trust me to know the difference? To know when it's a fixed point or if time is in flux or if time can be rewritten?" Miranda asks him, her words slightly muffled as she laid her head against his chest.

"I trust you. Completely. You'll understand one day," say the Doctor reassuringly. He gives her a pat on the back until he drops his arms from around her, the hug ending.

"Right," Miranda says, a little breathless. It's getting harder to concentrate and her heart is pounding through her chest, wanting to escape its cage. Never in her life did she expect those words to leave his mouth and for it to be directed towards her. The Doctor trusts her. Instead of a burden leaving her shoulders, more gets piled on. "So. Let's stop those Weeping Angels before they stop us."

The Doctor sees the fear she's trying hard to hide. She never seemed okay when the lonely assassins were around. "Believe me. I will never allow any harm to come to you. Not ever."

"Okay. I'll hold you to that," Miranda laughs a little, feeling a bit better about both of her situations involving how she can use her 'all-knowing' ability and the stone Angels. Suddenly they hear gunfire and Miranda nearly freezes at the sound. The Doctor grabs her hand and begins running. All of them catch up to the main group and see the young Cleric who shot up a statue.

"Sorry, sorry. I thought. I thought it looked at me." Miranda stops in her tracks when she remembers who the Cleric is. Is he someone she can save or someone doomed to die? The question is enough to make her want to tear her hair out in frustration.

"We know what the Angel looks like. Is that the Angel?" Octavian angrily points at the shot up Angel.

"No, sir," he says out of embarrassment. Miranda is forcing herself not to get mad at Octavian for this moment, knowing how he'll end up later on, caught and killed by a Weeping Angel.

"No, sir, it is not. According to the Doctor, we are facing an enemy of unknowable power and infinite evil, so it would be good, it would be very good, if we could all remain calm in the presence of décor." Miranda had enough of him. She throws Octavian a glare as she walks up to the scared Cleric.

"Hey. What's your name?" Miranda asks with a small smile, despite already knowing his name.

"Bob, ma'am." The Doctor comes up beside her to help make the Cleric feel better.

"Ah, that's a great name. I love Bob," the Doctor says, his face beaming.

"It's a Sacred Name. We all have Sacred Names. They're given to us in the service of the Church," Bob explains with a small stutter.

"Sacred Bob. More like Scared Bob now, eh?" The Doctor says, nudging the two of them.

"Yes, sir."

"Ah, good. Scared keeps you fast. Anyone in this room who isn't scared is a moron. Carry on." The Doctor nods at Miranda and she's reminded of his previous words to her, how he'll never let any harm come to her. She wonders if she can do the same for him. Or for Bob.

"We'll be moving into the maze in two minutes. You stay with Christian and Angelo. Guard the approach," Octavian orders Sacred Bob.

Miranda bites her thumbnail, looking between Bob and the others. A part of her wants to protest, wants Octavian to reconsider. Another part wonders if Sacred Bob is supposed to become Angel Bob. Indecision makes the two minutes go by and the others are already leaving without her. Miranda runs up to Bob at the last second and grabs his arm to stop him. "Hey. Um. Could you-I mean...please be careful. Okay?"

"Of course, ma'am." Bob says, appreciative of the concern if albeit confused as to why.

"Right. Alright, see you later," Miranda squeezes his arm and leaves to join the others to enter the maze. She waves at him with a heavy heart, knowing that left him to his inevitable fate.

Miranda walks alongside the Doctor, remaining silent throughout the entire conversation that's going on around her, not once bothering to steal a line or join in to add something. The Doctor observes how suddenly she's gone silent, but not wanting to point it out in front of everybody else he instead takes her hand. Miranda pretends not to notice.

"Are we there yet? It's a hell of a climb," Amy complains, kicking a few rocks along the way.

"The Maze is on six levels, representing the ascent of the soul. Only two levels to go," River tells Amy.

"Lovely species, the Aplans. We should visit them some time," the Doctor says with a hint of excitement, looking to Amy for her opinion on the potential trip.

"I thought they were all dead?" Amy raises her eyebrow at him.

"So is Virginia Woolf. I'm on her bowling team. Very relaxed, sort of cheerful. Well, that's having two heads, of course. You're never short of a snog with an extra head." Miranda laughs a little at him and the Doctor grins, happy he was able to make her laugh despite the gloomy atmosphere they were in.

"Doctor, there's something. I don't know what it is," River says apprehensively, a sense of unease in the air.

"There's more than something," Miranda breaks out of her thoughts when she remembers what's about to happen next. "Doctor. If the Aplans have two heads..." She trails off, knowing he got the message.

"Oh." The Doctor looks down at her, seeing the horror plain as day on her face.

"What's wrong?" Amy asks, not knowing what they're talking about.

"Oh." River repeats after them, realizing the truth a moment later.

"Exactly." The Doctor squeezes her hand, wishing that her face would go back to normal.

"How could we have not noticed that?" River shines her torch on the statues.

"Low level perception filter." Miranda backs away from the statues slowly, letting go of the Doctor's hand.

"Or maybe we're thick." The Doctor goes to hold Miranda's hand again, not liking how empty their touch is, but his attention is diverted to Octavian.

"What's wrong, sir?" Octavian tightens his hold on his gun, looking to the Doctor for answers.

"Nobody move. Nobody move. Everyone stay exactly where they are. Bishop, I am truly sorry. I've made a mistake and we are all in terrible danger," the Doctor says lowly to him, not wanting Miranda to hear the anxiety in his voice.

"What danger?" Octavian glances between River and the Doctor but before either of them could open their mouths, Miranda steps in next to them.

"The Aplans have two heads," Miranda nods her head at the statues, trying her best not to let her voice waver or her teeth to clatter. Clara's words of wisdom come unexpectedly to her. _"__Fear makes companions of us all."_She knows what's to come and reasons with herself to not let fear control her like last time when she was with Amy. A surge of confidence overtakes her, starting to feel comfort from the Doctor's promise that he won't allow harm to come to her. Even if never in a million years did she think she would have to go face to face with an army of Weeping Angels and hold the Doctor's hand, she was going to pretend and act like she belongs here.

"Yes, I get that. So?" Octavian's confusion makes her move in closer to the group.

"So why don't the statues?" Upon seeing that he got the message, Miranda steadies her nervous hands, clears her throat, and points to the alcove nearby that was away from the statues. "Everyone, move over there."

"Don't ask questions, don't speak," the Doctor says shortly after with a proud smile on, ushering everybody to follow Miranda.

"Okay, I want you all to switch off your torches." The Doctor tells everybody, keeping Miranda close beside him. "Just do it. Okay. I'm going to turn off this one too, just for a moment."

"Are you sure about this?" River asks, staring at the statues for any movement.

"No."

"Yes."

Miranda and the Doctor look at each other, their eyes wide. The light goes out then back on in an instant.

"Oh, my God. They've moved," exclaims Amy. The Doctor runs down the passage, all of them close by, and it's filled with statues coming towards them.

"They're Angels. All of them." The Doctor confirms their suspicions.

"But they can't be," River argues.

"Clerics, keep watching them." He runs back to look down at all the statues that are climbing up towards them. "Every statue in this Maze, every single one, is a Weeping Angel. They're coming after us."

"But there was only one Angel on the ship. Just the one, I swear," River tries to reason, disbelieving what she's hearing.

"Could they have been here already?" Amy pipes in, trying to help understand what's going on.

"The Aplans. What happened? How did they die out?" The Doctor and Miranda lock eyes, the truth clear as day to them.

"Nobody knows."

"We know," the Doctor and Miranda reply at the same time. Miranda begins to question if maybe they could go back in time to save the Aplan civilization from being hunted down by the Weeping Angels but knows deep down that they can't. Something about being a part of events, she figures.

"They don't look like Angels," Octavian points out to the others.

"And they're not fast. You said they were fast. They should have had us by now," Amy adds, crossing her arms.

"Look at them. They're dying, losing their form. They must have been down here for centuries, starving," the Doctor goes up next to Amy, helping her realize the danger they're in.

"Losing their image?" A light bulb goes off in her head.

"And their image is their power," Miranda says to them, putting emphasis on the word 'power'.

"Power? Power!" The Doctor waves his hands around before turning to Miranda and resting his hands on her shoulders, slightly shaking her with a grin. "Ah, my brilliant Miri."

"Doctor?" Amy tilts her head at them.

"Don't you see? All that radiation spilling out the drive burn. The crash of the Byzantium wasn't an accident, it was a rescue mission for the Angels. We're in the middle of an army, and it's waking up."

"We need to get out of here fast." River nods to Octavian.

"Bob, Angelo, Christian, come in, please. Any of you, come in," Octavian speaks into his walkie-talkie.

_"It's Bob, sir. Sorry, sir."_ Miranda flinches at the sound of his voice, knowing that she's the reason he's dead and speaking to them.

"Bob, are Angelo and Christian with you? All the statues are active. I repeat, all the statues are active." When Octavian mentions the others names, she realizes she let them die too. It solidifies the immense pain of guilt burrowing away at her weak heart.

_"I know, sir. Angelo and Christian are dead, sir. The statues killed them, sir,"_ Angel Bob answers with zero emotion. The Doctor snatches Octavian's walkie-talkie out of his hands.

"Bob, Sacred Bob, it's me, the Doctor."

"I'm talking to-" Octavian starts but gets interrupted.

"Where are you now?"

"I'm talking to my-" Miranda bites her fingernail and turns away, not wanting to face Octavian.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, shut up," the Doctor shushes Octavian, going back to talking with Bob.

_"I'm on my way up to you, sir. I'm homing in on your signal." _Miranda doesn't like how sinister he sounded.

"Ah, well done, Bob. Scared keeps you fast. Told you, didn't I. Your friends, Bob. What did the Angel do to them?" The Doctor gazes around him before stopping on Miranda's face. He sees the internal conflict she's having with herself, sees her biting away at her fingernails.

_"Snapped their necks, sir."_

"That's odd. That's not how the Angels kill you. They displace you in time. Unless they needed the bodies for something." Miranda goes up to Octavian and places a hand on his shoulder, knowing what he was going to say next. The Doctor looks at her questioningly and she slowly nods, confirming the fact that yes, the Angels do need the bodies for something.

"Tell me, Bob, how did you escape?"

_ "I didn't escape, sir. The Angel killed me, too."_ Miranda's hand tightens in response. Octavian looks down at her and carefully rests his hand over her's.

"What do you mean, the Angel killed you?"

_ "Snapped my neck, sir. Wasn't as painless as I expected, but it was pretty quick, so that was something."_

"If you're dead, how can I be talking to you?" A feeling of dread creeps up his spine.

_"You're not talking to me, sir. The Angel has no voice. It stripped my cerebral cortex from my body and re-animated a version of my consciousness to communicate with you. Sorry about the confusion." _

"So when you say you're on your way up to us..." The Doctor trails off, curious for his answer.

_"It's the Angel that's coming, sir, yes. No way out." _At Bob's last response, Miranda's frown appears as she buries the sorrow and fear away and she uses her hand to push Octavian towards the exit.

"We can get out through the wreckage. Go! All of you run. Please." She orders them, ignoring the crack in her voice. Octavian nods at her before taking off with the rest of his men. Miranda turns to the Doctor before he can contact Angel Bob through the communicator. "Angel Bob is the one from the ship. The one we saw on the monitor. All the other Angels are still restoring."

The Doctor pulls Miranda towards him, clasping their hands together and the two begin to run. They pass Amy on the way and he calls out to her, "Don't wait for us. Go, run." Miranda stops him and drags him over to Amy.

"I can't. No, really, I can't." The fear in Amy's wavering voice makes the guilt she's feeling even stronger and she pushes it down with the rest of her feelings, not wanting to focus on it now.

"Why not?" The Doctor questions.

"Look at it. Look at my hand. It's stone," Amy cries to them, her hand frozen on the railing.

"You looked into the eyes of an Angel, didn't you?" He flashes his torch across her eyes.

"I couldn't stop myself. I tried."

"Amy, please. It's messing with your head. Your hand isn't made of stone." Miranda tells her firmly.

"It is. Look at it." Miranda can see the image of Amy's stone hand in the episode and sighs.

"It's in your mind, I promise you. You can move that hand. You can let go," the Doctor pleads with her, knowing from the look Miranda is giving him that they don't have much time left.

"I can't, okay? I've tried and I can't. It's stone."

"The Angel is going to come and it's going to turn this light off, and then there's nothing I can do to stop it, so do it. Concentrate. Move your hand." The torch starts to flicker, making Miranda's eyes widen.

"I can't," she whispers.

"Then we're going to die." Miranda quickly says, wanting to hurry up and get this entire thing over with. She's had enough of spooky catacombs and stone angels. "And not in a fun way either."

"You're not going to die. You two can't die," Amy swivels her head around to look at her in shock.

"They'll kill the lights," the Doctor reminds her.

"You've got to go. You know you have. You've got all that stuff with River and Miranda has all that stuff with you and that's all got to happen. You know you two can't die here," Amy insists.

"Time can be re-written. It doesn't work like that," the Doctor tells her, hoping she'll see reason. At his words, the statues arrive and Miranda doesn't react nearly as bad like last time.

"Keep your eyes on it. Don't blink," Miranda says lowly.

"Run!" Amy yells at them.

"We're not going anywhere without you," Miranda tells her, determined not to let Amy down again. It was her fault Amy was stuck in this position in the first place.

"I don't need you two to die for me. Do I look that clingy?" Miranda gets the Doctor's attention and mouths the words, 'Bite her hand.'

"Amy Pond, you are magnificent, and I'm sorry." He bites her hand and Miranda slaps her hand over her mouth, muffling her laughter, feeling slightly better over the situation with Amy and the angel in her eye.

"Ow!" Amy jerks her hand off the railing and glares at him.

"See? Not stone. Now run." All three of them go chasing after the others.

"You bit me," Amy cries, cradling her hand.

"Yeah, and you're alive." This time Miranda doesn't bother to cover up her laughs, much to the Doctor's delight.

"Look, I've got a mark. Look at my hand." Amy holds out her hand for them to see as they ran.

"Yes, and you're alive. Did I mention?"

"Blimey, your teeth. Have you got space teeth?" She rubs the spot where he bit her, still in shock.

"He does, actually, sort of like a vampire," Miranda answers with a small grin, earning herself a nudge from the Doctor.

When they make it back to the others, all of their torches and even the grav globe were flickering. Miranda assesses the situation. Angels draining the power. Statues surrounding them. Zero climbing equipment to reach the Byzantium.

"There's no way up, no way back, no way out. No pressure, but this is usually when you the two of you have a really good idea," River says to the pair, hands on her hips.

"There's always a way out," Miranda and the Doctor say at the same time, nodding at each other. A crackle from the communicator catches their attention.

_"Doctor? Can I speak to the Doctor, please?" _

"Hello, Angels. What's your problem?" The Doctor rolls his eyes, pressing the walkie-talkie up to his mouth.

_"Your power will not last much longer, and the Angels will be with you shortly. Sorry, sir."_

"Why are you telling me this?" The Doctor's furrow in confusion.

"_There's something the Angels are very keen you should know before the end."_

"Which is?"

_ "I died in fear."_

"I'm sorry?" Miranda shuts her eyes, wringing her hands together, waiting to her Angel Bob's next words.

"_You told me my fear would keep me alive, but I died afraid, in pain and alone. You made me trust you, and when it mattered, you let me down. And she knew. She knew all along what would happen to me. And yet she let me die, despite the care in her last words to me as she left me behind."_

"What are they doing?" Amy whispers to River, watching the vary emotional responses between the Doctor and Miranda with interest. She looks close to tears, her mouth a thin line, and her jaw tense as she fights to keep her emotions at bay. His fury and anger were starting to bubble over the top, his gaze intense as he stares at Miranda.

"They're trying to make him angry and her guilty."

"_I'm sorry, sir. The Angels were very keen for you to know that."_

"Well then, the Angels have made their second mistake because I'm not going to let that pass. I'm sorry you're dead, Bob, but I swear to whatever is left of you, they will be sorrier," the Doctor replies, keeping his gaze concentrated on Miranda.

"_What mistake, sir?"_

"Trust me?" The Doctor breaks his stare with Miranda and turns to Amy.

"Yeah," Amy answers with a shrug, nodding at him.

"Trust me?" The Doctor faces River next.

"Always," River replies with a confident smile.

The Doctor goes over to Miranda and immediately embraces her, his chin resting on top of her head. "It's not your fault, Miri. I trust you, remember?" Miranda slowly nods against his chest, ignoring the feelings that were threatening to emerge. Hugging the Doctor felt absolutely surreal, like the moment happening between them was unreal and could never happen. Again, the Doctor could feel how empty their touch was. She was hugging a stranger and he was hugging a familiar friend who doesn't even know they're friends yet. "Now. Do you trust me?"

Miranda mulls over the question and doesn't answer right away, not quickly enough like the others. A quote from a past episode echoes in her mind. It was the one thing she kept repeating to herself in the years following meeting the Doctor for the first time, after seeing the Twelfth Doctor on her screen when the Eleventh regenerated. "I believe in you."

A wide smile appears at her words, the anger from earlier disappearing from view. He hugs her tightly one last time before releasing her and turning to the Clerics. "You lot, trust me? "

"We have faith, sir."

"Then give me your gun. I'm about to do something incredibly stupid and dangerous. When I do, jump!" The Doctor walks over him, holding his hand out.

Octavian hands over his gun with a puzzled look. "Jump where?"

"Just jump, high as you can. Come on, leap of faith, Bishop. On my signal."

"What signal?" He asks.

"You won't miss it," the Doctor and Miranda answer at the same time, smiles present on their faces.

"_Sorry, can I ask again? You mentioned a mistake we made."_

The Doctor points the gun at the hull of the Byzantium and Miranda waits for his next line with bated breath, her smile widening at being able to hear the Doctor make a small speech. "Oh, big mistake. Huge. Didn't anyone every tell you there's one thing you never put in a trap? If you're smart, if you value your continued existence, if you have any plans about seeing tomorrow, there is one thing you never, ever put in a trap."

"_And what would that be, sir?"_

"Me." A shot rings out. The fun now begins.


	4. memories of flesh and stone

**A/N: Instead of sleeping, I'm typing. Might regret this decision in the morning. Then again, it is morning. Once again, thanks for the reviews, etc. :)**

* * *

Her feet fly up in the air at the sound of the gunshot and she feels like she's falling. It's a feeling she's felt before a long time ago. A hazy memory of a rooftop and people yelling at her are all that's left of that feeling. There's another memory fighting for dominance, wanting to be remembered. There's a strong coppery scent invading her senses and her vision is red. Salty tears are trailing down her cheeks and before she can completely recall the disappearing memory, her eyes fly open when she hears a familiar man's voice.

"Up. Look up."

Everybody is struggling to their feet on the artificial surface. A man in a tweed jacket comes running over to her. His fingers are snapping in front of her face and when his hands land on her shoulders, she's jerked into the present. The bowtie wearing Doctor is staring intently at her, his pale green eyes searching her for injuries. "Are you alright?"

"Yes," she answers without thinking. She wants to close her eyes again, to see if she can go back into her mind to look for that memory where her body is numb and her thoughts are depressing. But the Doctor places his hand against her cheek and is rubbing away at something.

"Then why are you crying?" His last word startles her and she bats his hand off to wipe away the tears herself.

"No I'm not," Miranda insists in a mechanical monotonous voice, her cheeks burning crimson at being caught in such a personal state. Never ever has she cried openly before, not once since the day she was standing in front of a slab of stone whose words cut her open and left her in a permanent state of despair.

The Doctor wants to take her hand, to squeeze comfort into her being. He's itching to ask her what's wrong, not understanding where the sudden tears came from. Before he could protest and call her out on her lie, Miranda turns away to look to the others that were still getting their bearings. "You guys okay?"

"What happened?" Amy asks after River helps her up, her legs wobbly and unstable.

"We jumped. We're exactly where we were," Miranda answers, ignoring the Doctor's piercing stare. It was time to focus on the plot, not on her sudden release of forgotten feelings and lost memories. She tucks the problem away under the bed to deal with later, like how she would with toys that scared her as a kid.

"Move your feet," the Doctor tells Amy. When Miranda finally meets his gaze, he gives her a look that clearly says, 'We'll talk about this later'. She acknowledges him with an uncertain nod and he goes back to sonicing the circular hatch in the floor.

"What am I looking at? Explain." Amy looks around their surroundings, still not understanding.

"Okay, it's like this. Um...the ship crashed with the power still on. Which means the artificial gravity is still on too. So when the Doctor shot the grav glob it gave us an updraft to help us jump and up we fell," Miranda explains to the best of her knowledge, pausing a few times to remember how the Doctor explained it.

"Doctor, the statues. They look more like Angels now," Octavian points out, looking up at the spot where they were all at a moment ago.

"They're feeding on the radiation from the wreckage, draining all the power from the ship, restoring themselves. Within an hour, they'll be an army," the Doctor tells him just as the circular hatch opens. "They're taking out the lights. Look at them. Look at the Angels. Into the ship, now. Quickly, all of you."

"How?" Amy asks just as he drops through the open hatch and into a circular corridor. Her eyebrows furrow at the odd sight. He's standing on the side of a vertical tube and it should be impossible.

Miranda stands beside her and explains quietly, "It's just a hallway. The gravity will pull you to floor." Shortly after Amy jumps in, Miranda follows as the Doctor tells the others to hurry up in a urgent tone. The Doctor begins working on a nearby control panel.

"The Angels. Presumably they can jump up too?" Just as Octavian finishes talking, the hatch closes.

"They're here," Miranda says breathlessly, feeling her stomach drop to the floor as waves of anxiety hit her. Further down the hallway a bulkhead starts to close and Miranda makes a mad dash for it.

"Run!" The Doctor's yell speeds her up more, her lungs burning from the sudden exertion. Their footsteps echo loudly throughout the corridor. Miranda makes it through just as it closes shut behind her. The others don't make it in time. Fear takes hold of her and she runs up to the shut bulkhead, slamming her hands against it in a desperate attempt at opening it.

"Doctor!" She shouts and hopes that he'll hear her.

"Miranda! Just stay put. We'll get to you, I promise," the Doctor yells back, hiding his panic with reassurances that she'll be alright, ignoring the fear that is threatening to strike him down.

"This whole place is a death trap," Octavian states, loud enough for her to hear him from the other side.

"No, it's a time bomb. Well, it's a death trap and a time bomb. And now it's a dead end. Nobody panic." The loud banging noises from the Angels trying to get in through the closed hatch on the other side makes her flinch in surprise. "Oh, just me then. What's through here?"

"I-it's the secondary flight deck," Miranda answers, pressing her ear against the door.

"Okay. so we've basically run up the inside of a chimney, yeah? So what if the gravity fails?" Amy wonders aloud, looking to the Doctor.

"I've thought about that."

"And?"

"And we'll all plunge to our deaths. See? I've thought about it. The security protocols are still live." The Doctor hits the palm of his hand against the bulkhead. He whispers softly to River, hoping Miranda doesn't hear him, "There's no way to override them. It's impossible."

River glances at him, seeing the worry in his eyes. She begins working alongside him on a panel. "How impossible?"

"Two minutes." The outer hatch opens and Miranda knows what's going to happen next. She feels helpless on this side, not knowing what to do next. She gives up trying to open the door and goes to explore down the short corridor and into a room, ignoring the sounds and voices from the others. If she remembers correctly, there should be clamps that she needs to open to get to the forest or as the Doctor puts it, 'an oxygen factory'. Time to make herself useful.

Taking a deep breath to settle down her churning nerves, Miranda sets her sights on the wall. She quickly finds the clamps and releases them. The rear wall of the flight deck slide up to reveal the forest. The sight is rather breathtaking. Miranda allows a small smile to grace her features. Despite having to go through an army of Angels and being forced to face her fears of the stone statues, being able to see a forest on a spaceship almost makes up for it. _But not quite_, Miranda thinks dismally.

Miranda sits down in the 'comfy chair' and begins biting her nails, wanting to wait for the others. The forest may look cool but not cool enough that she'll go in first and start exploring. She begins humming a pop song to help keep her composure and stress levels down, not a fan of the deafening silence around her. After a few minutes pass by with no sign of the Doctor or the Clerics, Miranda decides to check over herself to make sure everything is in place. No broken bones, no untied bootlaces, no smudged eyeliner. Before she can delve into her thoughts to search for those sudden memories that came out of nowhere and caused her to openly cry in front of the Doctor, the door opens behind her.

The Clerics, Amy, and River squeeze through the bulkhead with the Doctor coming behind them, being the last one to enter. The door clangs shut again and they run down the short corridor into the secondary flight deck. Miranda jumps up from the chair at the sudden commotion and the Doctor is at her side in a matter of seconds. He practically knocks the breath out of her when he collides into her, wrapping his arms around her in a tight hug. Miranda makes a small 'oomph' sound, a little surprised at the concern he was displaying. "Doctor-"

"Miri, are you okay?" The Doctor loosens his hold on her and checks her face for any sudden tears or sorrow. When he sees nothing except confusion, he lets go of her and waits for her answer.

"Uh, yeah." Miranda raises an eyebrow at him. That was the hundredth time he's asked that. She knows they're supposed to be friends but none of the friends she's ever had were this interested in her well-being. She sees the wheel on the door starting to turn and she looks to Octavian. He notices and places a device on the door and the wheel stops turning. Miranda takes the Doctor's attention off of her and to the forest behind them.

"Magnetized the door. Nothing could turn that wheel now," Octavian says, triumph in his voice.

"Yeah?" The Doctor replies distractedly, still staring at the forest. The wheel turns despite the device Octavian put on it.

"Dear God!" He exclaims in shock, horrified at what's happening.

"Ah, now you're getting it. You've bought us time though. That's good. I am good with time," The Doctor and Miranda approach the forest and he turns to her with a smile. "Did you...?"

"Yeah..." Miranda confirms, grinning up at him. The others get to work on sealing the doors to slow down the Angels.

"Doctor, how long have we got?"

"Five minutes, max. But don't worry, we've got another way out of here, thanks to Miranda," The Doctor says proudly, nudging her.

"Yeah, don't mention it," Miranda says timidly, feeling a bit put on the spot by the attention he's giving her.

"Nine," Amy says. Miranda's grin fades at hearing the countdown, a sense of dread filling her.

"Five," the Doctor corrects her, rushing over to her side.

"Five. Right. Yeah," Amy repeats, not aware of what's happening to her.

"Why'd you say nine?" The Doctor asks, staring at Amy who was fidgeting.

"I didn't," she insists. The Doctor nods, not exactly believing her, and turns her around to face the forest. "But that's. That's a..."

"It's an oxygen factory," River tells her with a grin, coming around from behind the controls.

"It's a forest," Amy says in disbelief.

"Forest equals oxygen factory. Now known as our escape route," Miranda explains, still staring at the sight in front of them.

"Eight," Amy says in the background. Miranda's face fell, guilt threatening to eat her up. She hears River ask her about what she said only to be told that it was nothing.

"Is there another exit? Scan the architecture, we don't have time to get lost in there," the Doctor tells Octavian who goes into the forest more to check it out for rad levels.

"But trees, on a space ship?" Amy asks with a smile, in awe of the forest around them. Miranda stands by Amy, watching as he went up to one of the trees to open it up.

"Oh, more than trees. Way better than trees. You're going to love this. Treeborgs. Trees plus technology. Branches become cables become sensors on the hull. A forest sucking in starlight, breathing out air. It even rains. There's a whole mini-climate. This vault is an ecopod running right through the heart of the ship. A forest in a bottle on a space ship in a maze." He claps his hands together and joins them back in the room. "Have I impressed you yet, Amy Pond?"

"Seven," Amy giggles at him.

"Seven?" The Doctor questions, now bewildered at what's going on with her.

"Sorry, what?" Amy asks him with a blank look, not realizing what she's saying.

"You said seven," he insists, studying Amy's face closely.

"No. I didn't," she protests, shaking her head in confusion at him.

"Yes. You did," River joins in. Miranda frowns, knowing she has to say something now, to explain it before it gets worse.

Just as she opens her mouth, Octavian comes by to join the group and tells them, "Doctor, there's an exit, far end of the ship, into the Primary Flight Deck."

"Oh, good. That's where we need to go," the Doctor tells him absentmindedly, keeping his attention on Amy.

"Plotting a safe path now."

"Quick as you like." The Doctor calls back just as his communicator goes off. It's Angel Bob. Miranda sighs quietly, annoyed at missing the opportunity to tell them about what's wrong with Amy.

_"Doctor? Excuse me? Hello, Doctor? Angel Bob here, sir." _The Doctor goes to sit in the white chair, swinging around in it.

"Ah. There you are, Angel Bob. How's life? Sorry, bad subject." Miranda doesn't laugh, not like she did last time when she watched this episode back home. In fact, it only brings up the regret she feels at not making a bigger effort to save Sacred Bob.

_"The Angels are wondering what you hope to achieve." _

"Achieve? We're not achieving anything. We're just hanging. It's nice in here. Consoles, comfy chairs, a forest. How's things with you?" The Doctor speaks to Angel Bob nonchalantly. The casualness in his behavior is starting to get on Miranda's nerves, wishing he'd just hurry up and ask Angel Bob about what's wrong with Amy.

_"The Angels are feasting, sir. Soon we will be able to absorb enough power to consume this vessel, this world. and all the stars and worlds beyond," _Angel Bob says sinisterly.

"Well, we've got comfy chairs. Did I mention?" The Doctor pats the white chair he's sitting in, emphasizing his words. Miranda rolls her eyes at him, resisting the urge to rip the communicator out of his hands.

_"We have no need of comfy chairs."_

"I made him say comfy chairs," the Doctor jokes, grinning at the people around him.

"Six," Amy laughs a little. She's had enough. Miranda marches up to the Doctor and takes the communicator from him. Before the Doctor can protest, she starts talking to Angel Bob, a hint of ire in her voice.

"Angel Bob, I know what you've done to Amy. There's something in her eye," Miranda goes over to the tall ginger girl, watching with remorse as Amy stares at her in astonishment.

_"We are,"_ he confirms to her. The Doctor shoots up from his stupid comfy chair and joins Miranda at Amy's side.

"What are you talking about? Miranda, I'm five. I mean, five. Fine! I'm fine." Amy starts to doubt her own words, fighting an internal battle for control over her body.

"You're counting down from ten," Miranda tells her before going back to talking to Angel Bob. "And you know why, don't you?"

_"We shall take her. We shall take all of you. We shall have dominion over all time and space." _At hearing Bob's threat, Miranda hands the communicator over to the Doctor, hands shaking.

"Get a life, Bob. Oops, sorry again. There's power on this ship, but nowhere near that much," the Doctor says, sitting back in the white chair. Miranda stares at the wall behind him, dark eyes wide and mouth ajar.

_"With respect, sir, there's more power on this ship than you yet understand. Only the girl with thick skin and an elastic heart understands." _

"You know, I like that song. It's a good song," Miranda half mumbles, still entranced by the sight on the wall. A loud shrill shrieking sound echoes around them, making her shiver and her skin tingle.

"What's that? Dear God, what is it?" River asks out of horror, resting a hand on Amy's shoulder in concern.

_"It's hard to put in your terms, Doctor Song, but as best I understand it, the Angels are laughing."_

"Laughing?" The Doctor asks him, not understanding what's so funny.

_"Because you haven't noticed yet, sir. The Doctor in the TARDIS hasn't noticed."_

"No. Wait. There's something I've missed..." he trails off when he sees what Miranda's staring at. The crack in the bulkhead above the entrance widens, the light pouring out and nearly blinding them.

"That's, that's, that's like the crack from my bedroom wall from when I was a little girl," Amy stutters, in shock at seeing the ominous crack here of all places.

"Two parts of time and space that should've never touched..." Miranda stands stiffly in place, not tumbling over when the room begins to shake.

"Okay, enough. We're moving out," Octavian decides, starting to gather up the team to enter the forest.

"Agreed. Doctor?" River nods at the Bishop and turns to see the Doctor and Miranda staring at the crack intently.

He waves her off, overly interested in the crack. "Yeah, fine."

"What are you doing?" River asks him as he takes out his sonic screwdriver and points it at the crack.

"Right with you." He pays them no attention and starts scanning the crack. Miranda gets a sudden urge to get closer to the crack, feeling its inviting warm glow. Before she can reach it, River argues that they're not leaving without him.

"Oh yes, you are. Bishop?"

"Miss Pond, Doctor Song, now!" Octavian orders them.

"You too, Miri," the Doctor tells her softly, pushing her slightly to the others, not liking the way she's staring at the crack, almost like she's familiar with it.

"Be careful..." Miranda warns him, giving the crack a once-over before retreating. She follows the voices of River and Amy through the forest but stops in her tracks when she sees Amy swaying. Miranda runs over just as she whispers, 'Four', and helps her lie down on the mossy tree trunk. "River... the med scanner. Please."

"Doctor Song, we can't stay here. We've got to keep moving." Miranda frowns at Octavian, knowing he doesn't understand how dire the situation is getting.

"We wait for the Doctor," River tells him, attaching the med scanner to Amy's arm.

"Our mission is to make this wreckage safe and neutralize the Angels. Until that is achieved-"

"Father Octavian, when the Doctor's in the room, your one and only mission is to keep him alive long enough to get everyone else home. And trust me, it's not easy. Miranda understands. Now, if he's dead back there, I'll never forgive myself. And if he's alive, I'll never forgive him. And, Doctor, you're standing right behind me, aren't you?"

"Oh, yeah," the Doctor says, grinning at them all like the madman he is.

"I hate you." River shakes her head at him, turning her attention back on Amy.

"You don't. Bishop, the Angels are in the forest." The Doctor jumps off the trunk he's standing on and approaches the group.

Before River can ask him how he escaped, Miranda says in a haunted voice, "The crack contains the end of the universe, the silence, and the end of all things." She clears her throat, ignoring the looks they're giving her.

"So, what's wrong with me?" Amy mumbles, her head pounding, their voices sounding very far away.

"Nothing. You're fine," River lies, her demeanor calm and relaxed to help soothe Amy.

"Everything. You're dying," the Doctor interjects, telling her the truth instead.

"Doctor!" River yells, glaring at him.

"What happened to rule one?" Miranda challenges him, staring at him blankly. She never liked that rule of his, never understood it. This time he says the truth but at the most inappropriate time.

"Right." The Doctor stares back, not knowing what to say. He goes back to focusing on Amy. "Amy, Amy, Amy. What's the matter with Amelia? Something's in her eye. What does that mean? Does it mean anything?"

Miranda doesn't want to hear him tell Amy to shut up, to dismiss how scared she is. Time was running out for her and Miranda has no desire to see Amy suffer anymore. Ultimately, she decides to interfere. She tells them straight away what's going on, not wasting this opportunity to explain. "She looked into the eyes of an Angel for too long. And the image of an Angel is an Angel..."

The Doctor catches on to what she's saying and continues, "A living mental image in a living human mind. But we stare at them to stop them getting closer. We don't even blink, and that is exactly what they want. Because as long as our eyes are open, they can climb inside. There's an Angel in her mind." Miranda glances down and sees the face of the Angel that appears in Amy's pupil.

"Three. Doctor, it's coming. I can feel it. I'm going to die," Amy mutters shakily. She grips onto Miranda's hand tightly.

The Doctor stands back up, pulling his communicator out of his pocket. "Please just shut up. I'm thinking. Now, counting. What's that about? Bob, why are they making her count?"

_"To make her afraid, sir._

"Okay, but why? What for?"

_"For fun, sir."_

The Doctor throws the communicator away in annoyance, his frustration building up. "Miranda, what's happening to me? Explain." Miranda flinches at the mention of her name but squeezes her hand in reassurance.

"Amy. There's an Angel living inside your mind. And it's...it's trying to climb out, to shut you off," Miranda tumbles over her words, trying her best to remain calm.

"Then what do I do?" Amy whispers, her voice softening with each word.

"You have to close your eyes." Miranda tells her firmly, her hand tightening in response.

"No. No, I don't want to," Amy protests and it sounds so unlike her.

Miranda hears River say that Amy only has seconds left and she blurts out, "That's not you talking, that's the Angel inside you. It's scared. Please. Just close your eyes."

Right as Amy squeezes her eyes shut, the med scanner changes from red to green. Everyone releases their breath, not realizing they were holding it. "She's normalizing. Oh, you did it. You did it," River says approvingly, smiling admirably at her.

"Yeah..." Miranda says with a half-smile, waves of relief running over her. The Doctor stares down at her, his expression undecipherable. Suddenly he bends down her level and hugs her, his eyes shut tight as he buries his head in her shoulder. Miranda doesn't know what to do, her hand hovering over his back. Before he breaks away to show his appreciation, she pats his back once.

"Brilliant, brave, Miri," the Doctor says with conviction, not caring if she was able to fix the situation quickly because of her 'slightly psychic ability' or whatever the reason. He was just thankful.

"Dunno about that last part...but thanks," Miranda nods at him and turns back to Amy who asked if she could open her eyes now. She holds Amy's hand for a moment longer before gently letting go. "Amy, don't open your eyes. The Angel is still inside you, it's just kind of...on pause. You don't have much of your countdown left. Please, don't open your eyes, not for anything."


	5. memories of flesh and stone pt II

**A/N: Ugh, sorry, this chapter did not want to be written. Words and sentences did not want to cooperate with me. As always, thanks for the reviews and everything! :) **

* * *

"Doctor, we're too exposed here. We have to move on," Octavian calls out to him from his position by the trees, watching out for any incoming Angels.

"We're too exposed everywhere. And Amy can't move. And anyway, that's not the plan."

"There's a plan?" River asks skeptically.

"I don't know yet. I haven't finished talking. Right! Father, you and your Clerics, you're going to stay here, look after Amy. If anything happens to her, I'll hold every single one of you personally responsible, twice. River, you and me, we're going to find the Primary Flight Deck which is-" He licks his finger and holds it up in the air. River and Miranda share a look that declares, 'Yeah, he's weird'. But that's when she realizes he hasn't given her anything to do or hasn't told her to come with him or to stay with Amy. "A quarter of a mile straight ahead, and from there we're going to stabilize the wreckage, stop the Angels, and cure Amy."

Miranda starts to tune them out, focusing on what she was going to do next. She narrows her choices down to two options. She can either stay here with Amy, to help her stop the Clerics from going into the light. Or she can go with the Doctor and River to try and save Octavian's life. But staying with Amy might involve having to guide her through the forest of Angels until River is able to teleport them from the other side and that could prove...tricky. A dull throbbing resonates in her head, making her wince in pain. All of this excessive over-thinking is starting to get to her. Before she can continue her train of thought, the Doctor yells, "Moving out!"

"Doctor, I'm coming with you. My Clerics'll look after Miss Pond. These are my best men. They'd lay down their lives in her protection," Octavian declares. Miranda glances nervously between the nearby Clerics and the Bishop, her headache getting worse.

"I don't need you," the Doctor retorts. His rudeness grates on her nerves and she doesn't know if she can tolerate any more from him. He told Amy to 'please just shut up' despite the fact that it was one of the things Miranda was trying to prevent. Normally when she was watching the show, she never did have a problem with this particular Doctor. In fact, she adored all of them. But right now, she was ready to snap at him.

"I don't care. Where Doctor Song goes, I go," Octavian insists. At the sound of the Bishop's voice, Miranda makes up her mind. After she helps Amy sit back up, she goes to stand next to Octavian, catching the last part of their conversation about him being engaged to Doctor Song.

"Doctor? Miranda? Please, can't I come with you?" Amy asks, searching for the sources of their voices. Miranda frowns down at her, instantly feeling bad about leaving her behind. But Amy makes it through the forest relatively fine, she knows this. Knowing this, however, doesn't ease her nervousness at what's to come.

"You'd slow us down, Miss Pond," Octavian tells her truthfully.

"I don't want to sound selfish, but you'd really speed me up." Immediately, Miranda and the Doctor kneel down in front of her to offer her comfort.

"You'll be safer here. We can't protect you on the move. I'll be back for you soon as I can, I promise," the Doctor tells her softly.

"You always say that." Flashes of seeing little Amelia Pond waiting for her Doctor enter Miranda's mind. It was different, seeing it on the TV screen. It was sad but she knew it wasn't real. But now here is Amelia Pond, waiting for the Doctor to come back again. Miranda is starting to realize that the characters aren't just characters anymore. They're real, flesh and blood, full of feeling and emotions, just like her.

"I always come back," the Doctor promises. He stands back up to address everybody but Miranda continues sitting down next to her. "Good luck, everyone. Behave. Do not let that girl open her eyes. And keep watching the forest. Stop those Angels advancing. Amy, later. River, going to need your computer!"

"Yeah. Later," Amy says to herself, not knowing Miranda is still sitting there.

"Hey, you'll be fine. The Doctor comes back. I promise," Miranda tells her in her most reassuring voice, giving her a pat on the hand. Amy acknowledges her with a small nod and smile. Miranda begins to follow the others into the forest, but stops when she hears the Doctor behind her.

"Amy, you need to start trusting me. It's never been more important." When she realizes it's the future Doctor, the Doctor whose time stream is rewinding, unraveling, and erasing, she quickly leaves the vicinity.

Miranda almost catches up with the Doctor, Octavian, and River, until someone grabs her arm from behind. She starts to yell but a hand covers her mouth, turning her around to face them. She relaxes when she sees it's the future Doctor. But the hard truth of what's happening to him hits her and she briefly wonders if she's there during the Big Bang Two. It only opens a landslide of questions whose answers she'll have to wait for.

"Hello..." Miranda trails off, not knowing what to say. The Doctor, from a personal standpoint, was a stranger to her. She knows almost everything about him, all thanks to watching the show, reading books, listening to audio adventures, but she doesn't know him personally. And here was the future Doctor, looking at her so strangely that it makes her think about what kind of friendship they have.

The Doctor smiles at her. Except the smile doesn't look right. It's a smile she knows well because she used to wear this smile everyday. The upside frown doesn't fit him. "Hello," he says back, but he wants to say so much more. He settles for words that don't convey spoilers. "You and me. We had a good run. Would have...never have."

Miranda flinches at his words, not knowing what to say right away. It makes her think of all the times she'll have in the future with the Doctor and how it'll all be erased. Except she knows Amy Pond will remember the Doctor back into existence and all will be well in the end. But where will she be in the midst of that chaos?

The Doctor places his hands on her shoulders and leans forward to kiss her forehead gently. All of the pent up frustration she was holding towards the Doctor she was with now starts to slowly dissipate. His upside down frown disappears and an attempt at a genuine smile replaces it. "Ah, my brilliant fantastic Miri. Have a good life."

Miranda laughs sadly at him, remembering these words from a certain favorite incarnation of the Doctor. "Have a fantastic life." After replying back to him, she turns around to see if she still has enough time to make it there. She turns back around but the future Doctor is gone. Ignoring the painful tugging at her heart, Miranda nods once at the empty space where he stood and starts running to the others by the Primary Flight Deck.

She can barely hear the Doctor in the distance rambling on about how time can be rewritten and how it's been happening all around him. Miranda forces herself to run faster, knowing she only has a few moments left. The sound of her boots hitting the forest floor is the only sound she hears until she gets closer to hear more snippets of their conversation.

"Doctor, we have to move," Octavian tells the Doctor, who was still too busy drawing conclusions about the crack in time and space.

"The CyberKing. A giant Cyberman walks over all of Victorian London and no one remembers," the Doctor ignores him, too wrapped up in his thoughts.

"We have to move it. The Angels could be here any second," Octavian says quickly. Miranda is now flat out sprinting, her sides starting to ache and complain as she gets closer to him. He spots her, looking surprised at seeing her tear past the trees and towards him.

"Never mind the Angels. There's worse here than Angels," the Doctor says ignorantly, unaware of what was transpiring behind him. He hears someone running and right when he turns around to face Octavian, he sees Miranda in his place. Miranda was going too fast to simply push him over and she ends up hitting him with the full force of her body. Her legs fly up in the air with her upper body in the arms of a stunned Bishop. Before Miranda can feel relief at managing to save Octavian's life, she feels pain first. A stone cold hand wraps around her ankle, jerking her to a complete stop in mid-air.

"I beg to differ, sir." Octavian stands up in order to keep her upper body level with her leg, keeping his eyes on the stone Angel. Miranda's cry of pain is muffled, her head buried in Octavian's shoulder as she's hugging him. She was trying hard to catch her breath and to not panic.

"Let her go," the Doctor says in a low dangerous voice, different from how he sounded in the episode. He steps up to them, staring at the Angel along with the Bishop.

"I don't think it's gonna let me go, Doctor. Not unless you stop looking at it...I guess," Miranda says through gritted teeth, shifting her foot around in her boot.

"I can't stop looking at it, it'll kill you," the Doctor states, complete seriousness in his tone.

"That's a bit dramatic," Miranda says with a weak laugh. She figures from having been stopped so suddenly in the air, her ankle has to be at least sprained or fractured. The familiar pain makes her remember how she both sprained and broke this ankle before in the past when she was running on ice and her shoes were untied. "It might just break my leg or something. You're going to have to leave me. I'll be fine, I think."

"Can't you wriggle out?" Octavian asks her, readjusting his grip on her.

Miranda moves her foot around some more, seeing if she can slip out of her boot. She lightly shakes her head at him. The Doctor walks up closer and starts untying her bootlaces. Miranda tries again to wiggle her foot out, biting her lip and closing her eyes when the pain flares up. "No...no, it hurts too much."

"We might have to break your ankle, ma'am," Octavian suggests and the Doctor reluctantly agrees with him.

"Can't you set up like a resonation pattern in the stone? You know, with your sonic screwdriver or something? Or is not the same thing as concrete?" Miranda asks out of desperation, not overly eager at the idea of breaking her ankle again. It's too reminiscent of when River had to break her hand to get out of an Angel's grip.

"No. It would take too long..." The Doctor trails off, still tugging at her boot to try and work it out of the Angel's hold. "Can't guarantee it would work in the first place..."

"Oh." Miranda sighs, knowing it was going to be inevitable. Still, a broken ankle was better than a broken neck. She had little to complain about in that case. "Do it quickly. I think the Angels are getting closer."

"I'm sorry, ma'am," was the last thing Miranda heard before a loud pop of her ankle breaking broke the silence. She yells into Octavian's shoulder, the searing hot pain overwhelming her senses. The Doctor with Octavian's help manage to tug Miranda's foot free from the Angel's hand. "Quickly, into the hatch."

Tears start to prickle her eyes but she doesn't dare let them fall. The two get Miranda through the hatch and she gets pulled the rest of the way in by River. "Ow, ow, ow..." Miranda keeps on repeating, leaning on the taller woman for support. The Doctor and Octavian follow shortly after her, diving in through the hatch just before the Angels surrounded them.

"There's a teleport. If I can get it to work we can beam the others here," River tells the Doctor after she whispers words of comfort to Miranda. She sets her down on the floor carefully and goes back to work. Miranda winces but otherwise stays quiet, avoiding Octavian's curious stare.

"You're wasting your time. I'm going to need your communicator," the Doctor says before snatching said device from River. "Amy? Amy? Is that you?"

_ "Doctor?" _Amy's voice crackles through the communicator. Octavian hears a sharp intake of breath from the girl on the floor. He bends down to look at Miranda's ankle after grabbing some medical dressing from his pockets. Miranda watches silently as Octavian begins wrapping her ankle in bandages, sidelining herself from the Doctor's conversation with Amy.

"Where are you? Are the Clerics with you?" At the word 'Clerics', Miranda tightly presses her lips together and shuts her eyes, blocking out the rest of the world. She doesn't respond when Octavian asks her if she's alright after he finishes wrapping her ankle.

_ "They've gone. There was a light and they walked into the light. Doctor, they didn't even remember each other." _The overwhelming sense of guilt she was trying hard to ignore comes flooding in when she notices that Octavian doesn't react to the news of his Clerics walking into the light. He doesn't remember them and she didn't save them. Miranda tries to rationalize her feelings away, saying to herself that if she had saved the Clerics from being erased, the Bishop would've been killed. No matter what she did or who she saved, some people were bound to die.

"No, they wouldn't," the Doctor responds, rubbing at his forehead with the back of his hand. "Time's running out. Amy, I'm sorry, I made a mistake. I should never have left you there."

_"Well, what do I do now?"_ Miranda hides her face in the crook of her arm, imagining what it would be like to be in Amy's shoes right now. Alone and lost in the dark, soon to be surrounded by stone Angels.

"You come to us. The Primary Flight Deck, the other end of the forest."

_ "I can't see. I can't open my eyes." _This part of the episode was always so frustrating for her. Now that she's actually part of the situation, doing nothing to help, the panic and dread she felt piling up in her stomach worsens. She knows that Amy will be alright, knows how it all ends, except it does nothing to calm her nerves. 'Amy will be fine' becomes her silent mantra for the next several minutes.

"Turn on the spot."

_"Sorry, what?"_

"Just do it. Turn on the spot." The Doctor pulls out his sonic screwdriver and turns it on. "When the communicator sounds like my screwdriver, that means you're facing the right way. Follow the sound. You have to start moving now. There's Time Energy spilling out of that crack, and you have to stay ahead of it."

_ "But the Angels, they're everywhere."_

"I'm sorry, I really am, but the Angels can only kill you." Hearing the harsh truth from the Doctor makes Miranda cringe. She wasn't sure if she liked this better than his number one rule: The Doctor lies. But why, Miranda wonders to herself. Does he lie to protect people, to keep his secrets hidden, or was it River's personal rule involving the Doctor that morphed into a rule of his own? It was more than likely all of the above.

_ "What does the Time Energy do?"_

"Just keep moving!"

_ "Tell me."_

"If the Time Energy catches up with you, you'll never have been born. It will erase every moment of your existence. You will never have lived at all. Now, keep your eyes shut and keep moving."

"It's never going to work," River comments from where she was working. Octavian had joined her to help get the teleport working. If they hurry up, they could save Amy faster.

"What else have you got! River! Tell me!" The Doctor shouts loudly at her, frustration getting the better of him. Miranda frowns, wanting to stand up and yell back but her stupid broken ankle prevents her from getting involved. She doesn't want to shout from her position on the floor or add to the growing tension of the room so she keeps quiet, waiting for Amy to make it back safely.

A loud clanging sound echoes across the ship. River asks aloud to the group, "What's that?"

"The Angels are running away. They wanted to feed on the Time Energy. But now it's going to feed on them instead," Miranda answers her, coming out of her thoughts to connect with the real world.

"Amy, listen to me. I'm sending a bit of software to your communicator. It's a proximity detector. It'll beep if there's something in your way. You just maneuver till the beeping stops. Because, Amy, this is important. The forest is full of Angels. You're going to have to walk like you can see."

_ "Well, what do you mean?" _

"Look, just keep moving."

"That Time Energy, what's it going to do?" River asks, her question directed towards Miranda who was struggling to stand up and face them. Miranda leans heavily on the console, putting all of her weight off of her bad ankle.

"It's going to keep eating until we feed it," Miranda replies, trying hard not to wince at the dull pain that's traveling up her leg.

"Feed it what exactly?"

"A big, complicated space time event should shut it up for a while," the Doctor answers this time, moving around the room to reach Miranda. He bends down and places a gentle hand on her bandaged ankle, fingers probing the injured area. Miranda scowls down at him when he presses too hard on the swelling ankle.

"Like what, for instance?"

"Like me, for instance," the Doctor answers River distractedly, concentrating on Miranda's injury. She feels a tingling sensation and looks through half lidded eyes to see ribbons of bright yellow and gold light streaming from the Doctor's hand and wrapping around her ankle.

"What are you doing...?" Miranda asks breathlessly, despite knowing exactly what he was doing. He would do the same for River in the future and heal her broken wrist. River's angry words echo in her head just as he finishes healing her broken ankle. "I don't think you should be wasting your regeneration energy on me..."

"I don't think it's a waste. Not when it comes to you," the Doctor replies back with a small smile, standing back up to give her a pat on the shoulder. Miranda finds herself at a loss for words and simply nods back, grateful for the unexpected gesture. River and Miranda lock eyes for a moment, but Miranda glances away first, not seeing the friendly smile on River's face shortly after.

The communicator beeps and Amy's voice rings out in alarm, "_What's that?"_

"It's a warning. There are Angels round you now," the Doctor says right as Amy teleports into the room. River grabs her before she falls, keeping a tight grip on her.

Miranda laughs and lets out a sigh of relief at seeing her arrive early thanks to both River and Octavian."Not anymore."

"Don't open your eyes. You're on the Flight Deck. The Doctor's here. We teleported you," River tells Amy before turning over to the Doctor, a triumphant grin in place. "See? Told you I could get it working."

"River Song, I could bloody kiss you," the Doctor says, waving his communicator in the air before setting it down. "You too, Octavian."

"Ah well, maybe when you're older." River looks over his young fresh faced self and shakes her head, switching her attention back to Amy to tend to any injuries she might have.

"I'm afraid I'll have to decline, sir," Octavian rejects the Doctor's offer for a kiss. The alarms start blaring, the ship shuddering with it.

"What's that?"

"The Angels are draining the last of the ship's power, which means the shield's going to release," the Doctor responds as all five of them turn to see the bulkhead rise to reveal the army of Angels waiting outside for them. "Angel Bob, I presume."

"The Time Field is coming. It will destroy our reality."

"Yeah, and look at you all, running away. What can I do for you?" The Doctor claps his hand together, a plan already formulating in his head. Miranda goes around and grabs Octavian's hand, silently telling him to get a grip on the handles. He doesn't question her and before Miranda can give him a surprised look, she hears Angel Bob's next words and freezes in place.

"There is a rupture in time. The Angels calculate that if you or the girl with thick skin and an elastic heart throw yourself into it, it will close, and they will be saved." Miranda wills her limbs to move and rushes over to stand next to the Doctor.

"He needs to stop quoting song lyrics or else he's gonna ruin that song for me," Miranda mumbles to herself, crossing her arms as she stares down Angel Bob. It was eerie, hearing the stone Angel steal words from one of her favorite songs. A bit more spooky than the catacombs but Miranda tries not to dwell on it, chalking it up to be nothing more than coincidence.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Could do, could do that. But why?" The Doctor places himself in front of Miranda, his gesture speaking volumes about his refusal to let Miranda throw herself into the crack. He didn't like the way she stared at it earlier and doesn't like the way she's staring at it now.

"Your friends will also be saved."

"Well, there is that." The Doctor lightly pushes Miranda away, knowing she got the message. Miranda goes back and places Amy's hand on the handles of the console module next to Octavian.

"I've traveled in time. I'm a complicated space time event too. Throw me in."

Before Octavian can object to River's offer, the Doctor shuts her idea down. "Oh, be serious. Compared to me, these Angels are more complicated than you, and it would take every one of them to amount to me, so get a grip."

"Doctor, I can't let you do this." Miranda grabs River's hand, gaining her attention to what she was doing. A smile breaks out across her face, seeing what the others were doing.

"Get a grip," Miranda says, bumping their hands into the console's handles.

"Oh, you genius."

"Sir, the Angels need you to sacrifice yourself now."

"Thing is, Bob, the Angels are draining all the power from this ship. Every last bit of it. And you know what? I think they've forgotten where they're standing. I think they've forgotten the gravity of the situation. Or to put it another way, Angels." The monitor's message says Gravity Falling.

"You all hold on tight and don't you let go for anything," River tells Amy, Octavian, and Miranda who all nod in response.

"Night, night." The gravity fails and their feet leave the floor, their bodies dangling in the air. Miranda squirms, disliking the oddly familiar sensation. The spaceship tilts and the Angels fall backwards through the forest, disappearing into the crack before it closes shut behind them. The silence that follows is deafening.

Eventually, the small group gets situated out on the beach, glad to be done with that entire experience. Miranda smiles at Octavian standing in the distance with a group of Clerics. There's one more person alive in the Universe because of her and Miranda focuses on the good in that. He waves her over and Miranda joins him on a small walk across the beach.

"You saved my life and for that, I'm grateful," Octavian starts, glancing down at the shorter girl beside him. "But something tells me I was meant to die there except you pushed me out of harm's way. Why is that, ma'am?"

"I think...River told you I know everything. I knew you were going to die and I..." Miranda pauses, letting her words linger in the air between them. "I don't think you were meant to die there. Not...really, I guess. I mean, I'd like to think I was there for a reason. Maybe it was to save you..." Miranda trails off, a bit embarrassed at her horrible explanation and how it sounded.

"If you were there for a reason and you were meant to save me, then maybe I was meant to do the same." Miranda raises an eyebrow at him, stopping mid-step for him to explain. "Listen to me, it's important. You can't trust her."

"Who?" Miranda whispers, dark eyes wide in realization. The same conversation he would've had with the Doctor is happening with her.

"River Song. You think you know her, but you don't. You don't understand who or what she is," Octavian warns her, voice low and foreboding as they hint at future events.

"I sort of do. I know everything," Miranda protests, cringing inwardly at how pompous and arrogant that sounded.

"Then you know why she was in Stormcage," Octavian states, straightening his back.

"She killed a good man..." Miranda nods slowly, letting him know that she knows that part of the story. She's desperate to know the second half of the story, the part of the story she apparently doesn't know about. What's changed?

"A hero to many." Octavian's gaze flickers over to the bowtie wearing Doctor in the distance and back to Miranda, his eyes softening. When it doesn't appear he'll say anything more, Miranda sighs, a frown appearing.

"The Angels called you the girl with thick skin and an elastic heart. For a good reason, I might add." Octavian nods at her, making her frown disappear just a quickly as it appeared. "And I will die in the future with the knowledge that you have granted me another chance at life. For that I thank God, and bless the path that takes you to safety."

Miranda smiles, her happiness from before reemerging. The two split paths without another word. Miranda reaches the Doctor and Amy just in time to hear the Doctor say, "You're a time traveler now, Amy. It changes the way you see the universe, forever. Good, isn't it?"

"And the crack, is that gone too?" Amy asks, recalling the crack from the bedroom appearing in the forest and on the ship.

"Yeah, for now. But the explosion that caused it is still happening. Somewhere out there, somewhere in time." Miranda follows them as they go over to River who is restrained in a pair of high-tech cuffs.

"You, me, handcuffs. Must it always end this way?" Miranda is crudely reminded of River and the Tenth Doctor and how that ended in handcuffs and her death. She blinks away the memory of that particular episode.

"What now?" The Doctor asks River whose handcuffs beep.

"The prison ship's in orbit. They'll beam me up any second. I might have done enough to earn a pardon this time. We'll see if Octavian keeps his word."

"Octavian said you killed a good man," Miranda blurts out, the mention of Octavian's name reminding her of how this conversation was supposed to go if he had told the Doctor about River instead.

"Yes, I did." River and Miranda lock eyes again and River sees just how young her eyes look and sees that she's not lived a single day of their adventures together. She sees that Miranda knows the truth about who the good man is and silently wishes for her to not reveal her identity too early. Miranda understands and nods once, mouth pressed in a thin line. "The best man I've ever known."

"Who?" The Doctor asks curiously, unaware of the silent conversation the two were having in front of him.

"It's a long story. Doctor. It can't be told, it has to be lived. No sneak previews. Well, except for this one. You'll see me again quite soon, when the Pandorica opens," River says slyly, winking at Miranda secretly. Miranda always liked those episodes, liked how dramatic and fairytale it all was.

"The Pandorica. Ha! That's a fairy tale," the Doctor laughs off the mention of the Pandorica, seeing the small smile on Miranda's face. He bumps into her with his shoulder, grinning down at her.

"Doctor, aren't we all? I'll see you two there." River confirms Miranda's inference. She's there during the Big Bang Two but where will she be at the end of it?

"We look forward to it." The Doctor nudges Miranda again.

"I remember it well," River says fondly.

"Bye, River." Amy cuts in, tightening her grip on her scratchy blanket.

"See you, Amy. Oh, I think that's my ride."

"Can I trust you, River Song?" The Doctor asks her quickly, eyes slightly narrowing in suspicion.

"If you like. Ha, but where's the fun in that?" River beams away in a whirl of sand along with the other Clerics and the Bishop, like something out of Star Trek.

"What are you thinking?" Amy asks the Doctor long after River and the Clerics left the planet, the three of them standing on the beach alone. Miranda's mind soars over the ocean and into space, her thoughts running a mile a minute.

"Time can be rewritten." The Doctor's words echo endlessly in her head and she applies it to her saving Octavian's life. Time can be rewritten and she's rewritten how Octavian died. Finally, the trio enter the TARDIS after spending a few moments on the beach in silence. "Sorry, Miranda."

Miranda faces the Doctor, not understanding the out of the blue apology. "What for?"

"Told you I wouldn't let any harm come to you," the Doctor avoids her stare, tapping his hand against his leg awkwardly while Amy quietly moves past them to sit on the bench where Miranda's luggage sat. "Didn't mean to lie-"

"It's fine...not your fault. Hasn't exactly been a fun five minutes on an alien planet or how I imagined my first adventure to go, but it is how it is, I guess." Miranda shrugs, digging the heel of her one boot into the glass floor.

"I promise, your next adventure will be amazing," the Doctor tells her with a grin and it stills her fidgeting. "Less stone Angels, more fish fingers and custard. What do you say?"

"I think that sounds great...after a nap," Miranda says honestly, yawning a bit, her adrenaline running out and leaving her exhausted. Just as the Doctor turns around to face the console, a bright light engulfs her whole and right before she falls through into the time vortex, she calls out, "Doctor-" The time vortex greets her, tossing her around like before and Miranda screams uselessly, waiting for it to be over. Her body lands on a grating, the floor smacking her like a car hitting a brick wall. Miranda gasps awake just in time to see a man in a leather jacket run in holding a plastic head.


	6. roses for nine

**A/N: Ah, finally finished this chapter. Midterms week is over and I've struggling to escape essay writing mode and enter story writing mode. As usual, thanks for all reviews/favs/follows, etc. :) **

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Miranda peeks out from behind the curtain of dark hair that was obscuring her view of the man in the leather jacket. She drags herself up off the floor with a loud groan, gaining the man's attention. A familiar Northern accent greets her, "Oh, it's you! Haven't seen you in awhile." She can't help the smile that breaks across her face at the sight before her. The man in the leather jacket with the funny ears and goofy smile. He's plugging in the plastic head, turning and flipping a few switches. Seeing what he was doing brings her up to speed as to which episode she's in. Rose. Said girl runs into the TARDIS, takes one look around, and runs back out. Miranda's smile widens and the Doctor takes notice.

"Hello," Miranda says to the Ninth Doctor, her excitement and happiness all too obvious. She waves awkwardly, adjusting her footing due to her only wearing one boot. The Doctor notices this too.

"Hello," he says back, allowing a small grin to show at seeing her appear aboard his TARDIS. The one time he had seen her before with this face was awhile ago and she was just as happy to see him then as she is now. His grin grows at this revelation.

Rose enters the TARDIS again after inspecting it from the outside and shouts, "It's going to follow us!" Miranda can't help but stare at the blonde girl, seeing that she was just as beautiful in real life as she was on her TV screen. Except seeing her in real life was like watching the typically low quality screen switch to high definition. Being here in person, watching her favorite TV show come to life before her eyes was a sensation she would never fully get over.

"The assembled hoards of Genghis Khan couldn't get through that door, and believe me, they've tried. Now, shut up a minute." The Doctor returns to switching dials as he messes around with Mickey's plastic head. Rose gazes around the enormous room, no doubt trying to wrap her head around everything.

Miranda quietly unties her other boot and shakes it off. At the sound of her black boot smacking the floor, the Doctor looks at her curiously from the corner of his eye. Miranda shrugs and answers his unspoken question, "I look ridiculous with only one boot on." More questions arise in those light blue eyes of his but they'd have to be answered later because Rose is looking straight at her, noticing her for the first time. "Hello."

"H-hello," Rose replies back, taken back by the appearance of the girl before her. To Rose, she looks worse for wear, like she just tumbled out of bed with zero hours of sleep a few moments ago.

The Doctor cuts into their conversation after finishing what he was doing with the plastic head. "You see, the arm was too simple, but the head's perfect. I can use it to trace the signal back to the original source." He turns around to face Rose, waiting for the usual questions that humans had. He knows Miranda already has the answers so he focuses his attention on the blonde girl instead. "Right. Where do you want to start?"

"Er, the inside's bigger than the outside?" Rose questions, looking around the organic coral filled room. Miranda silently listens to their conversation as she steps around the console to observe how different it is compared to the Eleventh Doctor's console.

"Yes." The Doctor grins, used to hearing that familiar sentence.

"It's alien," Rose adds.

"Yeah," he confirms.

"Are you alien?"

"Yes. Is that all right?"

"Yeah." Rose looks at Miranda who was casually strolling through the console room, using her socks to glide across the grated floor. "What about you? Are you alien?"

Miranda stops in her tracks, slowly looking up to meet both the Doctor's and Rose's gaze. "Who, me?" Rose nods, still waiting for her answer. "Oh. No, I'm not. I'm just American." Miranda resists to the urge to smack herself for that answer. What kind of answer was that? Rose, on the other hand, looks amused at the random fact she gave her.

"Okay," she accepts Miranda with a small smile.

The Doctor goes back to explaining his alien ship to Rose. "It's called the TARDIS, this thing. T.A.R.D.I.S. That's Time And Relative Dimension In Space." Rose bursts into tears, starting to cry but not exactly for the reason the Doctor thought it was. "That's okay. Culture shock. Happens to the best of us."

"Did they kill him? Mickey? Did they kill Mickey? Is he dead?"

"Oh. I didn't think of that," the Doctor slowly realizes the real reason behind Rose's tears, a bit dumbfounded.

Miranda opens her mouth to try and diffuse the situation, to tell Rose that Mickey is fine. Except Rose continues on, now angry, "He's my boyfriend. You pulled off his head. They copied him and you didn't even think?"

"Rose-"

"And now you're just going to let him melt?"

"Melt?" They all watch as Mickey's plastic head melts on the console, where it is attached by the cables the Doctor connected to it. He runs up to it and starts pulling levers and flipping switches and turning more dials. "Oh, no, no, no, no, no!" The Doctor sets the TARDIS in motion and the ship dematerializes in its spot. Miranda stands in awe, watching the Doctor fly the blue box to follow the signal. Rose and the Doctor go back and forth about what he was doing but Miranda doesn't pay them any attention. She's too fascinated by the TARDIS. They land and the Doctor runs for the door, Miranda following close behind him.

"You can't go out there. It's not safe," Rose shouts at them, joining them outside. The cool night air sends a breeze down Miranda's back and whips her dark hair across her face. She shivers and wraps her jacket around her tightly while she enjoys the view of the Thames. Miranda always wanted to visit London. And alien planets but that was always out of the question when it came to real life. Except her real life has switched places with the world of Doctor Who and it all comes at the cost of missing her family. Miranda's smile starts to fade. She tries to remind herself that it was her choice, sort of, in a way. She wasn't entirely sure on that. There was still too many questions on the big complicated matter...

"I lost the signal, I got so close," the Doctor complains from where he stood. His voice brings her out of her sullen thoughts and she refocuses on the current situation. The situation being, she was standing next to Rose Tyler and the Ninth Doctor, and she should enjoy the moment while it lasts.

"We've moved. Does it fly?" Rose asks, appraising the blue box.

"Disappears there and reappears here. You wouldn't understand," the Doctor states, still annoyed at the whole missing the signal.

"If we're somewhere else, what about that headless thing? It's still on the loose," Rose tells him, taking everything so far in great stride. Miranda admires Rose for that, seeing her accept almost everything quickly and going with the flow.

"It melted with the head. Are you going to witter on all night?" Miranda rolls her eyes at him, frowning when she remembers the one thing that practically all the Doctors have in common. They all have a tendency to be rude. Miranda listens as Rose talks about having to tell Mickey's mother about him being dead and how the Doctor forgot him, again. _Yeah,_ Miranda tells herself, _he's rude. You all of people should know this. In fact, you've laughed during the times he was being rude on TV and it was funny. Accept it. Or rather, tell Doctor Rude off. That's usually part of the Companion's job. And you're a Companion. Sort of. This is stupidly complicated. _

"-You were right, you are alien," Rose finishes, exasperated with said alien.

"Look, if I did forget some kid called Mickey-"

"Yeah, he's not a kid," argues Rose, cutting him off.

"It's because I'm trying to save the life of every stupid ape blundering on top of this planet, all right?" The Doctor half shouts, insulting the humans as usual.

"All right!" Rose shouts back.

"Yes, it is!" The Doctor doesn't let her have the last word, finishing the argument. He turns and sees Miranda standing there, contemplative and deep in thought. "You're quiet," he remarks. She doesn't respond, either ignoring him or not hearing him. The Doctor huffs, turning back to Rose when she asks him a question.

"If you are an alien, how comes you sound like you're from the North?" Miranda perks up at the question, waiting for the answer that always made her smile.

"Lots of planets have a north," the Doctor answers, sounding almost offended. He doesn't miss the small grin his words put on Miranda's face. He decides that maybe she just hadn't heard him before, not wanting to think that Miranda was ignoring him.

"What's a police public call box?"

"It's a telephone box from the 1950s." The Doctor runs his hand down the side of his blue box with a grin. "It's a disguise."

Rose cracks a smile at that. "Okay. And this, this living plastic. What's it got against us?"

"Nothing. It loves you. You've got such a good planet. Lots of smoke and oil, plenty of toxins and dioxins in the air, perfect. Just what the Nestene Consciousness needs. It's food stock was destroyed in the war, all its protein plants rotted, so Earth, dinner!"

"Any way of stopping it?" The Doctor holds up a tube of blue liquid as his answer. Miranda's eyes widen and she jumps straight into problem solving mode, thinking ahead to what's going to happen. Without hesitation, Miranda grabs the tube from his hand and shoves it in her jacket pocket.

When the Doctor looks ready to protest, Miranda cuts him off, "Anti-plastic." However, she thinks twice about blurting out everything to him. "Better in my hands. I think."

"Is that so?" The Doctor questions her, crossing his arms. He looks skeptical and a tiny bit distrusting. This bothers Miranda and it leads her to wonder just how well the two of them know each other in the past. But then he says, "Is it your limited omniscience?"

"Y-yeah." Miranda nods her head quickly, nearly forgetting that excuse. "Just, uh, trust me. Okay?"

"Right. Okay." The Doctor nods once, accepting her explanation for now. He doesn't see why she'd want the anti-plastic but decides to trust her, just like he's trusted her once before in the past. He moves on and says, "Anti-plastic. But first I've got to find it. How can you hide something that big in a city this small?"

Rose was watching the pair carefully, confused but interested in what was going on. She joins in the conversation again, "Hold on. Hide what?"

"The transmitter. The Consciousness is controlling every single piece of plastic, so it needs a transmitter to boost the signal." The Doctor glances at Miranda to see if she'd help him out with this bit but she isn't looking at him. He frowns and keeps on walking down the sidewalk.

"What's it look like?" Rose pipes in, trying to remain helpful.

"Like a transmitter. Round and massive, slap bang in the middle of London." Rose and Miranda follow him, walking past his blue box. "A huge circular metal structure like a dish, like a wheel. Radial. Close to where we're standing." The two girls share a look and both stare at the London Eye. "Must be completely invisible. What? What?" Miranda muffles her laugh while Rose just keeps on staring, starting to think he was a pretty daft alien. The Doctor turns and looks at what they're staring at on the south bank but turns back, not understanding.

"Penny in the air," Miranda says under her breath.

"What? What is it? What?" He finally catches on to what they're looking at: the biggest Wheel in the world - so far. "Oh. Fantastic!" The penny finally drops. A grin stretches across the Doctor's face as he grabs Rose's hand and they start to run across the Westminster Bridge. Miranda ignores the feeling of being left out and races after them, watching the two hold hands through wind blown hair. It puts a smile on her face and only confirms her thoughts on how she doesn't quite belong here. At least, not with these two who would soon fall in love, even if they deny such feelings. Miranda huffs, setting her thoughts aside and focuses on finishing the long run. It never seemed this long when she watched it but again, that was a show and there were edits. She begins to catch up with them and she's nearly next to the Doctor's side when he grabs her hand too. The action startles her but she doesn't comment, instead feeling grateful for the help. Miranda is completely out of breath by the time they arrive, hands on her knees as she bends over, stitches in her sides.

The Doctor dives straight into talking, barely tired from that awful lot of running they just did. "Think of it, plastic all over the world, every artificial thing waiting to come alive. The shop window dummies, the phones, the wires, the cables-"

"-The breast implants," Rose chimes in with a grin, feeling a bit winded herself. Miranda starts to laugh but begins cursing herself for being somewhat out of shape. It doesn't help she's still tired from the last adventure she had with the Angels. Or that she has no boots on.

"Still, we've found the transmitter. The Consciousness must be somewhere underneath." The Doctor roams around before coming over next to Miranda, seeing she still hasn't recovered from the run. "You okay?"

"Yeah. Fine," Miranda mumbles, rubbing her hand down her sides to soothe her aching muscles. She hasn't had to run like that since high school P.E.

The Doctor doesn't believe her. "You sure? We weren't running that-"

Rose cuts him off, pointing down at a large manhole entrance at the bottom of some steps. "What about down here?" She smiles at Miranda, nodding at her. Miranda nods back, feeling somewhat relieved. She was going to have to work on the running part if she was going to consider herself a Companion.

"Looks good to me," the Doctor grabs Miranda's hand and Rose's as they run down the steps and open up the hatch. Red lights greet them. They climb down a short ladder and go through a door and down more steps. Miranda gives an annoyed look back where they came from, not liking the ladder part of the trip down. "The Nestene Consciousness. That's it, inside the vat. A living plastic creature."

"Well, then." Rose looks over at Miranda, addressing her. "Tip in your anti-plastic and let's go."

"I'm not here to kill it. I've got to give it a chance," the Doctor says, unknowing of what would happen next. Miranda bites down on her thumbnail, thinking about the anti-plastic that sat in her pocket.

"A chance to what?" Miranda stands in front of him before he could go any further.

"A chance to leave," he answers her, stepping around her to go down the catwalk overlooking the seething vat of plastic.

"No-" Miranda starts to panic, remembering all the people who would die because of the living plastic. She runs down after him, stopping when he holds up a hand to prevent her from saying anything.

"I seek audience with the Nestene Consciousness under peaceful contract according to convention 15 of the Shadow Proclamation." The gross gooey stuff in the vat flexes. "Thank you. If I might have permission to approach?"

Miranda hears Rose talking to Mickey on a different level but ignores them, walking over to meet the Doctor who was still going downwards to approach the Consciousness. "It's not going to-"

"Miranda. Shush." He doesn't so much as glance at her, keeping his gaze steady on the vat of plastic. "Am I addressing the Consciousness? Thank you. If I might observe, you infiltrated this civilization by means of warp shunt technology. So, may I suggest, with the greatest respect, that you shunt off?" A sort of face forms and it's talking but Miranda can't hear what it's saying.

She tries to interrupt again, coming up beside him. "Doctor. They're not going to shunt off." He gives her a look and is about to tell her off but sees the panic in her eyes. "It's an invasion." The Doctor opens his mouth to reply but Rose's shout alerts them to the nearby danger. Miranda pushes the Doctor away just in time but finds herself trapped by a pair of shop dummies, taking his place. She struggles against them, her panic rising when one of them takes out the vial of anti-plastic out of her jacket pocket. "No-" Another pair of shop dummies trap the Doctor in their grip and she groans inwardly, never thinking her not so brilliantly planned plan would end up this way. So much for her future knowledge helping her in matters like this. _Should've tried harder to stop him_, Miranda thinks forlornly.

The Doctor answers for her, "That was just insurance. I wasn't going to use it. I was not attacking you. I'm here to help. I'm not your enemy. I swear, I'm not. What do you mean?" A door slides back to reveal the TARDIS. This makes Miranda kick back harder against the stupid shop dummy, hoping to end this entire thing quickly. "No. Oh, no. Honestly, no. Yes, that's my ship. That's not true. I should know, I was there. I fought in the war. It wasn't my fault. I couldn't save your world! I couldn't save any of them!"

"What's it doing?" Rose calls out from above them.

"It's the TARDIS! The Nestene's identified its superior technology. It's terrified. It's going to the final phase. It's starting the invasion! Get out, Rose! Just leg it now!" As the plastic in the vat keeps roaring, Rose calls her mother. Miranda shuts her eyes tightly, giving up on trying to overpower the plastic dummies.

The Consciousness starts throwing energy bolts around and Miranda knows what happens next and it terrifies her. Thoughts of Clive and his family getting shot down, all the other countless people getting attacked, even Clara's mother, if she wants to believe the theory that Clara's mother died during the Auton Attack. "It's the activation signal. It's transmitting!"

The plastic in the vat gets more and more agitated by the minute. "Get out, Rose! Just get out! Run!"

"The stairs have gone," Rose shouts back, watching helplessly as the Autons try to push both the Doctor and Miranda into the vat. Rose and Mickey run to the TARDIS, unable to enter. "I haven't got the key!"

"We're going to die!" Mickey cries out after her.

"Rose!" Miranda calls out to her, erasing the panic from her voice. The Autons keep on trying to push her in and it's getting harder to stop them, her socks providing zero traction. When she has the blonde's attention, she yells, "You've got the bronze!"

"No!" The Doctor yells at Miranda, trying to reach his hand out to her, seeing she was precariously close to the edge and about to fall in. Rose is running around the chamber behind them, grabbing an axe to chop the rope holding a very long chain to the wall.

"I'm sorry I didn't-" Miranda stops mid-sentence when she hears the Nestene's voice for the first time.

"Time Lord. His constant companion. Death." Before Miranda can connect the dots on what the Nestene's words mean, she sees Rose run and swing out along the side of the catwalk. She kicks the two Autons holding the Doctor into the vat but when she kicks the Autons holding her, Miranda starts to fall in after them. Her scream alerts the Timelord and he's at her side in a split second, grabbing her legs before the rest of her body falls over the edge. Miranda shakes the dummy's hold on her and it drops the vial of anti-plastic into the vat. He starts to pull her up as Miranda jerks the dummy's hand off of her and watches as it falls in too. Her familiar fear kicks in but the Doctor is there, making sure she's safe and away from the edge. Rose manages to stop swinging and lands on her feet perfectly, running over to the pair to make sure they were okay.

"Now we're in trouble." As soon as the words left his mouth, explosions start and the signals from the London Eye stop. The other shop dummies start to stagger then fall over. The three of them run to the TARDIS, where Mickey is holding on for dear life, and they all go inside. The TARDIS dematerializes and re-materializes by a row of shuttered kiosks and Mickey runs out, absolutely terrified. Rose follows him outside but Miranda stays put, her mind still trying to process the last ten minutes. She watches as The Doctor stays in the doorway, talking to Rose about her saving his life and Miranda's.

Miranda doesn't listen in, wanting to lay down and sleep for a few days. She sits down on the nearby seats, picking at the new holes in her socks. Rose had managed to help save the day a few minutes sooner than in the episode but Miranda doesn't know if those few minutes saved anyone. It didn't save Clive and his family, that's for sure. She saved Jackie but she probably didn't save Clara's mom, Ellie. Saving Octavian's life starts to pale in comparison to all the deaths the Auton Attack caused and how she wasn't able to stop it in time.

The Doctor shuts the doors and starts up the TARDIS, ready to fly away after Rose's refusal to join them. Miranda tries not to worry, knowing the Doctor comes back for Rose to tell her that he travels through time as well and she'll join him without hesitation. The console room is quiet, the silence making her fidget in her seat. Miranda stands up on protesting feet, facing the man in the leather jacket. "I'm sorry. I should've said something earlier...I-"

"No. I should've listened to you when you were trying to tell me something. My mistake." The two save their apologies and stand together, neither of them saying another word. After several minutes of silence the Doctor begins to scrounge up past things he's noticed about Miranda. "How many times is this for you?"

"What? Oh, um. I think this is the second time. My second adventure..." Miranda trails off, images of Angels appearing in her mind and she shakes them away.

"You lost your shoe?" The Doctor asks her, eyebrow raised, referring to when she appeared on his ship wearing only one boot.

"Yeah. Long story," Miranda says absentmindedly, eyes starting to flutter, her small adrenaline rush wearing off. She wants to ask him something in return but doesn't think he'll be able to answer it or will refuse to. She tries anyway, "How many times have I seen you in the past?"

"Why do you ask?" The Doctor goes back to flipping switches and turning knobs and pulling levers, taking them into deep space.

"I just...I'm just wondering if-" Miranda pauses to sigh, running a hand through her tousled ruddy brown hair, tugging it behind her ears. "-if we're friends." She knows they're friends in the near future, but what about now? He seemed friendly enough and smiled at her a few times but that could mean anything.

"Miranda," the Doctor stops what he's doing and faces her, arms crossed. "If I'm happy to see you, that means we're friends. If I'm not happy to see you, then we've got a problem. That's putting it in as little words as possible." His last phrase reminds her of something she's said to herself before. Explain in as little words as possible. Probably to avoid a paradox or something similar. His words make her think about his past and her future, which is nothing new at this point. At some point in his past and her future, he won't be happy to see her. She wonders what she'll do to bother him, besides existing and being an annoyance. Well, she's going to see him one day and it'll be his first time meeting her. _Almost like River Song,_ her mind tells her cruelly. Miranda vows to make sure that it won't be the death of her, that she'll hopefully have more adventures ahead of her when that day happens.

All this over-thinking gives her another headache and she goes back to sit down, ignoring the look he's giving her. Something else nags at Miranda, prompting her to ask him, "Earlier though...you said it's been awhile since you've seen me. How long-" The Doctor doesn't give her a chance to continue.

"Long enough. Now, where do you want to go?" He quickly switches the topic and she catalogs this moment for future reference.

"Uh..." Her mind draws a blank but her stomach answers for her. "Actually, can we go somewhere and get something to eat? I'm starving..." Her aching body pleads for sleep but she puts it off for now, her appetite not wanting to be ignored. She's craving something specific and going where she had in mind could help her feel more at home and...normal.

"Anywhere in particular?" The Doctor asks her, awaiting her answer so he can input the coordinates.

"Yeah..." Miranda gets off the seats and joins him at the console, figuring out the time and date she wants to get there. "United States. North Dakota. Fort Yates. Powwow grounds. July 31st, 2010." The Doctor nods as she tells him all the details and they're off flying through the vortex. Moments later, they're standing outside the TARDIS doors, feeling the warm breeze across their skin. The familiar smell of concession food hits her and her stomach rumbles again in response. "Come on, we'll get Indian Tacos. It's the best."

The Doctor nods again, going along with her plans, and takes her hand as they weave through the bustling crowds. Miranda's the tour guide this time, taking along her alien companion to explore somewhere new. She can only assume he hasn't been to some place like this before, not that he'd have a reason to. It's never mentioned in any of the books or episodes that he's visited a powwow before but now he has.

Miranda avoids stepping on glass or rocks, the tall grass tickling her exposed toes that were sticking out through holes in her socks. The sound of the beating drums and the singing in the distance puts a bounce in her step. It's been several years since she's last danced and she doesn't plan on doing it again anytime soon. Eventually, they get their food and after Miranda suggests they get some lemonade, they're back on their way to the blue box. The small experience made her feel more at ease about everything, small strips of stress melting away.

"Good choice," the Doctor compliments the food they're eating and doesn't fail to notice the small smile. Miranda tells him that it's no problem and the two time travelers sit in comfortable silence, neither of them bringing up the past events of the Auton Attack. She's content with this life, for now. There were still numerous questions and things that didn't quite add up but she ignores it, not wanting to spoil the moment with these troublesome thoughts. After the food settled in and the drinks were gone, Miranda decides to ask him about Rose.

"So what did you think about Rose? She seemed nice," Miranda says casually, keeping her tone light.

"Yes, she was," the Doctor agrees and she doesn't miss the disappointment he displays. Her frown emerges, trying to figure out a way to get the Doctor to go back for her. Limited omniscience excuse? Displaying a genuine interest in traveling with Rose that doesn't suggest she knows they're supposed to be together?

"She saved our lives," Miranda continues, hiding her worried frown.

"Yes, she did," the Doctor agrees again, never taking his eyes off of the girl sitting on the bench.

"She didn't want to join?"

"What are you getting at?" The Doctor asks her, curious at what she's trying to do.

"Did you tell her that you can travel in time too?" Miranda stands up to face his gaze, refusing to back down from this. Rose was important and she hopes that just because she's there, it doesn't mess up Rose's relationship with the Doctor.

"No, I didn't," the Doctor crosses his arms, sensing a motive behind her words. He waits for the slightly psychic girl with her strange 'limited omniscience, all-knowing powers' to explain. He wasn't always accepting of her reason in the past as to how she knows nearly everything, thinking she was a time sensitive initially. Except she denied the claim and went on a confusing tirade of explanations until he finally stopped her.

"I think you should go back for her," Miranda suggests, placing a hand on the console and hearing a hum in response.

"Is that so?" The Doctor echoes words from before, not changing his stance.

"Trust me," Miranda smiles, copying his stance. "You won't regret it," she says, remembering all the times and adventures the couple will share together. The Doctor trusts her again, seeing no reason as to why he shouldn't, and takes them back in time to March 5th, 2005, a couple seconds after they left.

"By the way, did I mention it also travels in time?" The Doctor asks Rose Tyler and Miranda laughs when he pops his head back, knowing that she comes running in with a giant smile on her face. She did it. Miranda gave a Rose for Nine.


	7. the toxic wallflower

**A/N: Here we go, another chapter up! Warning: character development/exploration involving deep introspection and interesting dialogue pieces. Not that it's a bad thing, I actually like writing those bits. Expect more of those bits. Alright, moving on. Thanks for all the reviews/follows/etc. :)**

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Her soul floats to a higher sphere, feeling herself detach from reality. The TARDIS is moving and they're traveling through space. The Doctor is helping Rose pick their next destination but Miranda doesn't pay attention to them, her mind gone and absent from the present. While they're heading for the future, Miranda is in the past. The two don't ask her opinion on going forward one hundred years or visiting the New Roman Empire and she thinks she doesn't mind.

It's like she's back on the sidelines, stuck to the wall like a wallflower. She's the second to last person picked for an activity in P.E. She's one of the last people to hear about an upcoming party but is never asked to dance when she arrives. She's caught up in a small circle of friends who are secretly bullies and instead of seeing her as an outsider, they see her as the opportunity to let their clique appear diversified to the rest of the world. She's their disguise, their excuse, their odd person that lets the popular group of teenagers tell the accusers, 'how can we be bullies, we're not all the same, we accept everybody'. It's through this popular group of teenagers that she meets her best friend, but not in the circumstances she would've wished for them to meet.

Miranda's not sure what prompted this sudden flow of memories but she stuffs them back under the bed, along with all the other bad thoughts and feelings. The Doctor approaches her, bringing her from the past and back to the present, or in this case, the future. "You coming?"

"Yeah," she replies with a reassuring smile, seeing the concern on his face. She brushes past him to join Rose outside to watch the sun flare through the window to space.

"You lot, you spend all your time thinking about dying, like you're going to get killed by eggs or beef or global warming or asteroids. But you never take time to imagine the impossible, that maybe you survive. This is the year five point five slash apple slash twenty six. Five billion years in your future, and this is the day-" He looks at his wrist watch, waiting for the correct time.

"Hold on." The sun flares and turns red, causing the two girls to squint their eyes against the blinding view. "This is the day the Sun expands. Welcome to the end of the world."

The end of the world. The end of a few lives if Miranda remembers correctly. She was useless to help save the lives of the people who died during the Auton Attack. She keeps a silent promise to try harder, to not stand on the sidelines. It was a promise from long ago but it seemed to be more relevant now.

The Doctor and Rose are already exiting the room and head down a corridor. Miranda tries not to dwell on the fact that she's being left behind again and catches up with them. "Shuttles five and six now docking. Guests are reminded that Platform One forbids the use of weapons, teleportation and religion. Earth Death is scheduled for fifteen thirty nine, followed by drinks in the Manchester Suite," the computer voice tells them.

"So, when it says guests, does that mean people?" Rose asks the Doctor, not expecting the answer to come from Miranda, who had been staying mostly silent during the short time she's known her.

"Guests meaning people. People meaning aliens," Miranda tells her, keeping her gaze straight forward.

"What are they doing on board this spaceship? What's it all for?" Rose now asks the both of them, taking up the job as the person who asks multiple questions in a row.

"It's not really a spaceship, more like an observation deck. The great and the good are gathering to watch the planet burn," the Doctor answers this time and uses his sonic screwdriver on a nearby wall panel.

"What for?"

"Fun." They enter a large area with a few display cases and a view of space to the front and above, otherwise known as the observation deck. "Mind you, when I said the great and the good, what I mean is, the rich." The two of them go back and forth about the sun expanding and the National Trust preserving the Earth. Miranda leaves them to their conversation, heading closer to the window that shows her the view of Earth and all the satellites that surrounded it. The impossible view was all too real and it makes her want to stretch out her hand to touch the scene. Her hand meets the glass and she sighs.

Whenever she thinks of space, she thinks of exploding suns, stars being born, and moon dust. Not the heavy responsibilities of time traveling and saving the world and worrying about causing paradoxes. But here she was, time traveling to five billions years in the future, unable to save the world, and having to think ahead about whose lives she can save without causing a paradox.

"-No one left," the Doctor finishes saying, just as Miranda rejoins them.

"Just you and me, then, yeah?" Rose says, referring to her and Miranda. Before she can reply back, a blue-skinned person with golden slit eyes strides towards them, confused by their presence. His blue skin is more blue than any blue she's seen before. It looked less like makeup and paint and more like his actual skin color. Miranda stops staring at him, starting to get a bit impatient for the arrival of the other aliens. Rose on the other hand was still fascinated with his appearance and kept on staring.

"Who the hell are you?" The Steward addresses them rudely.

"Oh, that's nice, thanks."

'But how did you get in? This is a maximum hospitality zone. The guests have disembarked. They're on their way any second now."

"That's me. I'm a guest. Look, I've got an invitation." The Doctor pulls out the psychic paper to show the Steward. "Look. There, you see? It's fine, you see? The Doctor and friends. I'm the Doctor, this is Rose Tyler and that's Miranda Hawke. They're my friends. Is that all right?" Miranda raises an eyebrow, straining her head to see what was on the paper. Another thing that's changed because of her presence. It's a little disconcerting. The Doctor puts away the piece of blank paper he was showing to the Steward, seeing him accept their fake invitation.

"Well, obviously. Apologies, et cetera. If you're on board, we'd better start. Enjoy." The Steward leaves them to begin the 'show'.

"The paper's slightly psychic. It shows them whatever I want them to see. Saves a lot of time," the Doctor explains to Rose but she's more interested in the Steward's skin color.

"He's blue."

"Yeah."

"Okay."

"We have in attendance the Doctor, Rose Tyler, and Miranda Hawke. Thank you. All staff to their positions," the Steward announces to the empty room. A lot of small people appear, rushing to their positions. "Hurry, now, thank you. Quick as we can. Come along, come along. And now, might I introduce the next honored guest? Representing the Forest of Cheem, we have trees, namely, Jabe, Lute and Coffa."

Miranda's eyes widen and her mouth drops at the sight of the walking tree people. On television, it was plainly obvious that it was all makeup and good costume work but right now, they looked incredibly real and authentic. Miranda spots the tree lady, Jabe, in between the two taller trees. One of the few who die. She keeps this in mind, watching more aliens enter the room.

"There will be an exchange of gifts representing peace. If you could keep the room circulating, thank you. Next, from the solicitors Jolco and Jolco, we have the Moxx of Balhoon." Another blue alien enters, this time mostly head and body, sitting on a transport pod.

Beside her, Rose is starting to look overwhelmed by the moment while the Doctor was enjoying himself. "And next, from Financial Family Seven, we have the Adherents of the Repeated Meme." A group of black-robed bipeds enter but Miranda doesn't spend more than a second looking at them, waiting for a familiar face to arrive next.

"The inventors of Hypo-slip Travel Systems, the brothers Hop Pyleen. Thank you." Fur clad reptilians enter and the announcements continue on, taking forever as the groups of aliens shuffle around the observation deck exchanging gifts. "Cal Spark Plug. Mister and Mrs Pakoo. The Ambassadors from the City State of Binding Light."

The trees go up to the Doctor, paying no attention to the two girls standing beside him. "The Gift of Peace. I bring you a cutting of my Grandfather," Jabe addresses the Doctor, handing him a rooted twig in a small pot. Miranda tries her best not to stare at her but it's not hard not to. Seeing the tree people up close in detail was an amazing sight, in her opinion.

"Thank you. Yes, gifts." The Doctor searches his person, coming up with nothing on the gift part. "Er, I give you in return air from my lungs." He breathes gently on Jabe, who smiles in return. Miranda watches the exchange with amusement.

"How intimate."

"There's more where that came from."

"I bet there is."

Miranda switches her view from the Doctor and Jabe to the large doorway, a tingle of excitement running up her veins. The moment she was waiting for arrives. "From the Silver Devastation, the sponsor of the main event, please welcome the Face of Boe."

A large glass case containing a giant humanoid head barely makes it through the doorway. Miranda leaves the Doctor and Rose behind, her feet having a life of their own as she starts to approach the Face of Boe. Before the Doctor can ask her where she's going, he's stopped by the Moxx of Balhoon.

Her still shoe-less feet guide her in the direction of the big head and a song starts to play in her own head. "And I want it, I want my life so bad. I'm doing everything I can. Then another one bites the dust." The song is familiar and its words seem like they're following her. Miranda reaches the large case that holds the Face of Boe.

"Jack," She says nervously, a part of her unsure about the true identity of the telepathic Boe.

"Sunshine. That is a name I haven't heard in a long, long time," the Face chuckles, confirming the generally accepted fact that Captain Jack Harkness is the Face of Boe. Connecting the enigmatic Captain to this floating head in a jar was hard because to her, they hardly seemed alike. His soft voice in her head puts butterflies in her stomach. This wasn't even the Captain Jack Harkness she met on the TARDIS three years ago, the one who held her tight and spun her around in a hug. _But it was_, her mind tells her. _This is him. _

"Sorry. Did you, uh, want me to call you the Face of Boe?" Miranda asks, suddenly shy in the presence of Jack. She was confused when she first met him, not that anyone could blame her. Except now she's armed with the knowledge that they're friends and he's got a nickname for her but it doesn't put her at ease. It only makes her feel like she's meeting the famous person she had a crush on and he's telling her they're close friends. It makes her heart pound out of her chest. This feeling was different from meeting the Doctor, it was nearly unexplainable. Miranda doesn't focus on it, trying to squash the butterflies.

"No, my Sunshine. Please, call me Jack," he says, his voice now sounding like it was hiding a laugh and suppressing a smirk. Her face grows warm and it's getting increasingly harder to stop her stomach from doing cartwheels.

"Okay, Jack. The first time we met, or well, I guess the first time I met you, you said we were friends?" Miranda questions him, still in slight disbelief at the small moment they shared three years ago and how sad and disappointed he appeared when he realized it was her first time meeting him and the Doctor.

"Yes, I did. We're old friends, you and me," Jack tells her, his tone cryptic as he recalls that day, nearly forever ago. As Miranda dwells on that little fact, Jack continues on, "We have little time left and I'm sure you have many questions. Please know, Miri, that you will have all the answers one day."

"Yeah, but when?" Miranda asks, frustration creeping into her voice. It was becoming apparent that she obviously doesn't know everything that happens, not anything pertaining to her at least. There were small secrets, perhaps even some big ones, that were being kept from her. There was also the whole issue of how she's able to travel through the time vortex and all the complications that come with it.

"Soon." Miranda forces herself not to roll her eyes at his vague answer, knowing that he can't tell her everything for fear of paradoxes or whatever timey wimey excuse there was. But Jack's next sentence chills her bones and sets her mind ablaze. "You are not useless."

"I-I never said I was," she corrects him after gaining back her voice, brown eyes wide in bewilderment. Her heart thumps painfully in her ribcage but for a different reason this time.

"No, but you were thinking it," Jack counters. " You think maybe you aren't meant to save people. Maybe you aren't meant to be anybody at all. You think, what's the point of you being here?"

"What are you talking about?" Miranda's eyes narrow at him, not liking the sudden change in conversation. What's he doing? He's strangely all-knowing, almost like her. One would expect as much, considering how old he is.

"What do you think I'm talking about?" She blinks. Her thoughts unscramble and start to form coherent ideas. Is he talking about the now, about how she wants to save as many people as possible here on Platform One? How she doesn't want to be useless and let things happen when she could've changed something?

"No..." Her eyes close on their own accord. Her memories reemerge from under the bed, coming back to haunt her. She was always there, standing beside the crowd of bullies, the people she called her friends. Until one day, she made them stop. It was the day she met her best friend, for the second time. And she told her friends no more, that she wasn't going to stand on the sidelines and watch them put down another person. Miranda escapes with her best friend, helps her survive their vicious attacks that day. One year later and she was helpless and useless to save her friend from the inevitable. Nothing she said or did helped her friend.

Her eyes open, misty with unshed tears, and she sees in Jack's ancient eyes that he knows what she's thinking about. She must've told him what happened at some point, especially if they're supposed to be close friends in the future. "I couldn't save her. And I couldn't save-"

"I know. Please believe me when I say this, Sunshine, that you are not useless and you are meant to save people." Miranda realizes what he's trying to do, the reason behind his comforting words that are meant to help prop her up until she's able to walk and stand on her own. A part of her is trying to be angry at having those memories being brought up again for the second time today but another part is grateful and appreciative of the helpful words he presents her.

"Can I save people here?" Miranda asks, gaining control of her emotions and steeling her heart.

"Are you the girl who knows everything?" He counters, a smile appearing on his giant face when Miranda gives a small laugh in response.

"Well." She thinks back to what River Song said about her not knowing part of the story. "Almost everything."

"There is your answer," Jack tells her simply. "Yes, you can." He brings her attention to the scene unraveling behind her. Miranda missed Cassandra being introduced as the last Human, too wrapped up in her thoughts and conversation with Jack. Tainted Love by Soft Cell was already playing in the background. Miranda sees that Rose can't take all the aliens and runs out. The Doctor goes to follow her but gets intercepted by Jabe with her camera. She remembers what happens next. The blue plumber girl named Raffalo and the metal spiders in the vent that kill her. Miranda can save her, if she's quick enough.

"Thank you," she smiles brightly at Jack, her mood already improving. From that moment on, she knew she was no longer going to stand on the sidelines. Not like she did in the past.

"Good luck, sweetheart," are his final words to her as she runs off to follow Rose, hoping she gets there in time. She tries not to dwell on his last words to her, on why he would call her that. Sunshine was one thing but _that_ was an entirely different thing. It implied too much. Miranda tells herself that she won't let **that **happen between them. There was no way she was falling in love with Captain Jack Harkness. She had other things to worry about at the moment. Of course, it could mean nothing at all...

Miranda shuffles her way through the crowded observation deck, ducking past several aliens. She finally makes it to the open corridor where Rose entered minutes ago. Breaking out in a sprint, she struggles not to lose traction on the slick ground, her torn up socks not helping. She starts to hear Raffalo's voice around the corner and it spurs her to go faster. "Hold on! If you're an upgrade I just need to register you, that's all. Oh, come back."

She spots the plumber starting to enter the vent and she doesn't hesitate in grabbing her ankles to pull her out. "Raffalo! Get out!" The blue girl scrambles out of the vent before the metal spiders came back to attack her. Miranda grabs her arm and drags her down the hall to escape the immediate danger. When she was satisfied they were a safe distance away, Miranda lets go of her arm with a wide smile.

"Hello, sorry. Those metal spiders are sort of, like, not friendly. Don't go back in there. It's not safe. Okay, gotta go," she tells her hurriedly, partially out of breath from the running she had to do. Oh, but saving Raffalo was worth the burning sensation in her lungs. Miranda leaves the gaping plumber to her own devices as she leaves to find the Doctor and Rose.

If she recalls the events correctly, the Doctor would walk into Gallery 15 to talk to Rose and see how she was doing after meeting all those aliens. This time, she really did have culture shock. Miranda enters the room just in time to hear them beginning to argue. Yeah, excellent timing. This would put a damper on her happy mood after saving Raffalo.

"-Who are you, then, Doctor? What are you called? What sort of alien are you?" Rose lets loose a barrage of questions, all aimed at the Doctor. Miranda awkwardly shuffles in, standing at the top of the steps, hoping they don't see her right away. Her hopes were dashed when the two glance up at her and Rose begins asking her questions as well. "And you. All I know about you is that you're American. Who are you two?"

"I'm just the Doctor. She's just Miranda," the Doctor tells Rose with a shrug.

"Yeah, I can answer questions myself, thanks," she retorts, rolling her eyes at him. This was going to be a long conversation, might as well take a rest during it. Miranda sits down between them on the steps, stretching out her limbs.

"From what planet? I know you're from Earth but what about him?" Rose points at the man beside her, the tension in the air rising.

"Well, it's not as if you'll know where it is!"

"Where are you from?" Rose asks, getting more and more irritated with his non-answers by the second. Miranda blows air out of her nose, disliking not knowing what to do to mediate the argument.

"What does it matter?" The Doctor casually blows off her question, but Miranda knows the anger that's about to boil over any moment now.

"What about you? Where are you from exactly? Who are you?" Rose directs her question at the quiet girl this time, taking her by surprise. _Great, _Miranda frowns, _now I'm being dragged into this again._

"Told you already. I'm American," Miranda answers her but it does nothing to placate the blonde girl.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean anything. Where were you in the beginning when I first met him? Why are you traveling with an alien?" Rose catches the look Miranda gives her, the word 'Seriously?' written all over her face.

_Could ask you the same thing, _Miranda thinks. Oh, but she's the one who suggested that they go back for Rose so she could join them in the TARDIS. Except she didn't _have _to run in, no questions asked about the two strangers while they time traveled to the future. But Miranda was the same, in a way. Traveling with strangers from her television. _They're not strangers. You know of them. 'Cept you don't __**know**__ them. What's the difference?_

"What does it matter?" Miranda echoes the Doctor's words and Rose blows up this time, shouting at them.

"Tell me who you two are!"

The Doctor suddenly stands up, having enough of the back and forth, his anger shining through. "This is who I am, right here, right now, all right? All that counts is here and now, and this is me."

"Yeah, and I'm here too because you two brought me here, so just tell me." The Doctor doesn't respond, instead walking down the steps away from her. Miranda doesn't face them, now irritated at the two killjoys in the room. When she left home, she didn't think about having to deal with moments like these. All she had in mind was to jump across galaxies, exploring all of time and space. Next stop: everywhere.

"Earth Death in twenty minutes. Earth Death in twenty minutes."

Moments pass by with none of them talking. Rose gets up to meet the Doctor, hoping to smooth things over. "All right. As my mate Shareen says, don't argue with the designated driver." The Doctor with his back to her, smiles a little. Rose takes out her cell phone, holding it up in the air. "Can't exactly call for a taxi. There's no signal...we're out of range. Just a bit."

"Tell you what," the Doctor talks as he starts taking her phone apart. Miranda watches carefully, wondering if he can do the same for her phone. "With a little bit of jiggery pokery..."

"Is that a technical term, jiggery pokery?"

"Yeah, I came first in jiggery pokery. What about you?"

"No, I failed hullabaloo."

"Ooh." The Doctor places a new battery in her phone, snaps it shut, and hands it off to her. "There you go." Miranda gets up from the steps, wanting the same thing to be done to her phone. She fumbles for her iPhone in her jacket pocket, inspecting it for any possible cracks. The iPhone was used, a gift from an Aunt, and was a fairly older version. When she doesn't notice any visible damage to the screen, she taps the Doctor on the shoulder. "You too?"

Miranda nods, watching Rose call her mom. When she gets her phone back from the Doctor, who took a bit longer to fix her's, Miranda doesn't bother trying to make a phone call or to send a text message to anyone. It seems unlikely she'll be able to call her own mom from another dimension and it's not like she has anyone's phone number in this universe. However, her phone starts going off with numerous texts and when she opens one up, she immediately shuts her phone off and stuffs it back in her pocket.

Ignoring the Doctor's curious look, Miranda steps away from the two to get a closer view of the Earth and the space surrounding it. Her mind goes back to the text she opened up. '_Hello, sweetheart'. _It makes her fingers twitch and her knees weak. Sighing, she grabs her phone again to look at more of the texts. It should be impossible to be receiving these texts. It's like her entire message inbox is filled with spoilers.

There were a few from Amy trying to get her opinion about a particular short story idea or which color nail polish she should wear, a couple from Clara asking her if she's able to pop by so she test try her new souffle, some from Rose in the future about general things like questions or jokes she came up with. There's one from Martha asking her how she's doing so it must be from after she leaves the Doctor. There were several calls from Donna but no text messages, aside from the one that asks whose number this is. She's a bit surprised there weren't any from River although it's not like the Stormcage Containment Facility would let her text someone. Miranda scrolls down to view more messages. The rest were from Captain Jack Harkness.

_Yeah right, _Miranda scoffs at the numerous texts and shuts her phone off. Maybe she shouldn't have done that, looking through the messages and exposing herself to potential spoilers but for the most part, it was all harmless information. _It's not like it means anything..._

"No, I'm fine! Top of the world," Rose finishes talking to her mom, a grin on her face. She's stunned by what just transpired, putting her phone down from her face.

"Think that's amazing, you want to see the bill."

"That was five billion years ago. So...she's dead now. Five billion years later, my mum's dead," Rose trails off, the grin fading.

"Way to be morbid," Miranda mutters under her breath.

"Bundle of laughs, you are." Miranda braces herself, grabbing a hold of the Doctor's arm for support. The space station shakes and shutters. "That's not supposed to happen," the Doctor says, sounding rather pleased and curious at the turn of events.

"Honored guests may be reassured that gravity pockets may cause slight turbulence, thanking you," the Steward says over the loudspeakers, feeding them a lie.

"Gravity pockets? I don't think so," Miranda shakes her head at the ceiling. The Doctor agrees with her and takes her hand along with Rose's. The three time travelers race out of the room to investigate. Oh, it's going to be a long day.


	8. the toxic wallflower pt II

**A/N: Delayed update. All due to midterms and an eventful spring break. And as a result, a rather abrupt ending to the chapter but the next one will hopefully make up for it. The goal is to have semi-regular updates while balancing real life issues so expect at least one (or two) chapters a week. If not, poke me with a stick to check if I'm still alive and writing (or haven't forgotten). Alright, as always, thanks for the reviews/follows/favorites. :) **

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Right as they enter the observation gallery, Miranda overhears the Moxx of Balhoon talking to the Face of Boe, "Indubitably, this is the Bad Wolf scenario. I find the inherent laxity of the on-going multiverse..." At the mention of Bad Wolf, she discreetly shares a look with the big head. Miranda couldn't even begin to decipher what the Moxx could mean by that statement, so she lets it go for now. The whole Bad Wolf entity and its plot was initially cool but the more Miranda thought about it, the more the ontological paradox made her head spin.

"Miranda's right, that wasn't a gravity pocket. I know gravity pockets and they don't feel like that. What do you think, Jabe? Listened to the engines. They've pitched up about thirty Hertz. That dodgy or what?"

"It's the sound of metal. It doesn't make any sense to me."

"Where's the engine room?"

"I don't know, but the maintenance duct is just behind our guest suite, I could show you and your wife." Jabe glances between Rose and Miranda, making it unclear which girl she meant.

Miranda releases a small laugh at the assumption, ignoring the fact that Jabe was supposed to be referring to just Rose, not the both of them. The following exchange always amused her, even if it was slightly offending and insulting. She decides to go along with it, to the Doctor's surprise and curiosity. "Not his wife."

"Partner?"

"Yeah, no."

"Concubine?"

"Nobody says that anymore."

"Prostitute?"

Rose bristles at the word and defends Miranda to her surprise, "Whatever she is, it must be invisible. Do you mind? Tell you what, you two go and pollinate. We're going to catch up with family. Quick word with Michael Jackson." The blonde girl lightly tugs on the brunette's arm, expecting her to join her to talk to Cassandra. Miranda wasn't keen on having the 'bitchy trampoline' conversation and was more interested in finding out if there was a bathroom nearby.

"Don't start a fight," the Doctor warns them before offering Jabe his arm.

"And I want you home by midnight," Rose tells the grinning Timelord, watching the pair leave out the door. "Come on." She gestures for Miranda to follow her over to where the last pure Human was at except Miranda shakes her head at her, the appeal of going to the restroom too strong to resist.

"Nah, you go on ahead. Give her a piece of your mind." Miranda swivels her head around, searching for any possible signs that indicted a restroom. "There should be a bathroom around here, I think. I hope," Miranda mumbles out the last part with a soft laugh, realizing that they never show the characters in the show using the facilities. For obvious reasons, she's sure, but right now it was a giant inconvenience. Rose nods with a grin, understanding her reason, and leaves the lost girl to find the privy.

"Earth Death in fifteen minutes. Earth Death in fifteen minutes."

Somewhere from the back of her mind nags at her to ask the Face of Boe for directions. It might also be her last opportunity to speak to Jack for awhile, until the next time she properly meets him. Miranda glances over where the giant head and the Moxx of Balhoon were still talking, biting down on her thumbnail as she waits for their conversation to come to a close. Right as the blue alien departs from the Face of Boe's company, Miranda rushes up to him.

Before she could get a word out, she breaks out in a yawn, drowsiness controlling her limp body. The full experiences of dealing with Weeping Angels, having her ankle broken and fixed, failing horribly against the Nestene Consciousness, and now waiting for the end of the world was starting to hit her in waves. It was mostly adrenaline and excitement that was spurring her forward and keeping her awake and active. But she was slowing down, finding it difficult to keep her eyes open and Jack noticed, laughter echoing in her head.

"Is there a bathroom around here?" Miranda asks in between yawns. Jack gives her directions and she smiles gratefully. "Thanks, Jack...uh. Don't suppose you would happen to know if I'm able to get any sleep sometime soon? Emphasis on the soon part?"

"Soon enough I'm sure, sweetheart," Jack answers, sounding as if he was recalling nearly forgotten information.

"Right," Miranda replies slowly, her mind narrowing down on one word. The word traces back to the numerous texts in her phone and back to what he said when she ran off. A sudden impulse nicks her like a snapping wire, jolting her to mention that out of place word. Old friends, sure. One of Jack's numerous lovers, no. It's an impossibility, no matter how strong her little crush was on the character. Or a certain other character. To affect the timelines in such a way by involving herself in certain character's love lives would be going a tad too far. _Maybe, _Miranda thinks, biting down on her lip in deep concentration. _No, focus on saving people, not loving people. _

"Just so you know..." Miranda pauses, trying to find a way to reword her jumbled thoughts. "Just so we're clear..." She brings out her phone from her pocket, waving it in the air to bring his attention to it. Deciding to go the vague but obvious route, she continues, "There's no way you're dragging me into anything."

"Of course, Sunshine," Jack smiles, amused by her behavior. Miranda nods, not sure if she feels relieved by his answer or not. Turning away from the Face of Boe, she begins the short trek to the restroom. After completing business and checking her appearance in the mirror, the computer voice overhead tells her, "Earth Death in ten minutes." Freezing in place, Miranda runs through her head to figure out and remember what happens next.

"Oh, shi-" Toxic by Britney Spears interrupts her, the jukebox playing the traditional ballad out in the observation gallery. Miranda remembers now. She forgot about what happens to Rose after she finished talking to Cassandra. Saving Rose from the descending sun filter was going to eat up a lot of time and she could've stopped the Adherents from knocking out Rose. Or she could've gotten knocked out by the Adherents herself. Either way, she needs to hurry up and meet up with the Doctor in rescuing Rose. Miranda dashes out of the restroom and across the gallery floor, avoiding but nearly tripping over several aliens along the way. Making a few guesses as to which corridors she should run down, Miranda manages to find her way by listening for Rose's cries for help. The Toxic song wasn't exactly helping her, nearly drowning out the blonde girl's shouting.

"Anyone in there?" A man with a Northern accent calls out just as Miranda rounds the corner, rushing up to said man to his surprise.

"It's Rose," Miranda answers the Doctor, breath ragged as she struggles to get her breathing under control. If she'd known that the awful lot of running wasn't all grins and over in five seconds like it was on the show, she would've gotten into better shape beforehand.

"Let me out!" A frantic yell from within confirms Miranda's words.

"Oh, well, it would be you." The Doctor rolls his eyes, beginning to work on the door panel.

"Open the door!" Rose impatiently yells, banging on the door to a vain attempt to escape. Miranda silently begs the Doctor to hurry up, hazy little details on how the Doctor stopped the Sun filter reemerging.

"Hold on. Give us two ticks," he calmly tells the panicking girl, the computer repeating its message of 'Sun filter descending'.

"Sun filter rising. Sun filter rising." Before the Doctor could enjoy his small victory, the computer mocks him, "Sun filter descending."

"Just what we need. The computer's getting clever," he groans, glaring at the display on the control panel. Miranda shuts her eyes, trying to imagine this scene from the viewer's point of view so she can remember how the Doctor stopped the computer. The answer presents itself in her mind, clear as day.

"Stop mucking about!" Rose yells at the Doctor just as Miranda opens her eyes, ready to jump in and intervene. She pushes the Doctor's hand that was holding the sonic screwdriver, jabbing it right into the wires of the control panel. The results were immediate and he grins at her before returning his gaze back to the smoky room. "Sun filter rising. Sun filter rising." Rose runs back up to the door, waiting to be released from the deathtrap.

"The whole thing's jammed. I can't open the doors. Stay there! Don't move!" The Doctor takes Miranda's hand and the two were off.

"Where're am I going to go, Ipswich?" Rose shouts after them, terrified sarcasm shining through.

"Summon the Steward." The two time travelers enter the gallery just as the Moxx of Balhoon finishes his sentence, both ready to put an end to the chaos. However, Jabe's next words freeze Miranda in place, her heart dropping to the pit of her stomach.

"I'm afraid the Steward is dead." Familiar imagery of the Steward burning to death bombards her with its unpleasantness as gasps of shock echo in the room.

"Who killed him?" Moxx directs his question to Jabe but is interrupted by Cassandra.

"This whole event was sponsored by the Face of Boe. He invited us. Talk to the Face. Talk to the Face." Cassandra's accusation against Jack ignites a flame within her and her hand forms a fist, ready to lash out against the so-called 'Last Human'.

"It wasn't the Face of Boe. So let's find out who really did it. Doctor," Miranda releases her clenched hand and points at the spider that Jabe was scanning, surprised at the lack of wavering in her own voice. "Send it back to its owner." The Doctor nods at her and puts down the spider. It scuttles off to Cassandra and scans her, but moves on to the black gowned group.

"Earth Death in five minutes."

"The Adherents of the Repeated Meme. J'accuse!"

Miranda scoffs at Cassandra, crossing her arms. "Yeah, okay. It was totally the Adherents. But really, if you think about it...a Repeated Meme is just an idea. Right, Doctor?" Miranda looks to the Doctor for confirmation but all she sees is him grinning at her. When she raises an eyebrow, he nods again and walks over to the Adherants. The leader tries to hit him but he pulls off its arm and tugs down on one of the wires dangling from the arm. All the Adherants collapse.

"Remote controlled Droids. Nice little cover for the real troublemaker. Go on, Jimbo. Go home," the Doctor says as he gives the spider a nudge with his shoe, the entire room watching as it returns to Cassandra.

"I bet you were the school swot and never got kissed. At arms!" Cassandra's attendants raise their spray guns, pointing the weapons at the two time travelers who didn't take her threats seriously.

"What are you going to do, moisturize me?" The Doctor mockingly sasses her with Miranda smiling in response. Another favorite line of her's.

"With acid. Oh, you're too late, anyway. My spiders have control of the mainframe. Oh, you all carried them as gifts, tax free, past every code wall. I'm not just as pretty face," Cassandra corrects him, ready to delve into explaining her master plan as most villains tend to do.

"Sabotaging a ship while you're still inside it? How stupid's that?"

"I'd hoped to manufacture a hostage situation with myself as one of the victims. The compensation would have been enormous." Miranda exhales a loud gust of air, already getting tired of Cassandra's explanation. It didn't help her eyes were fluttering and her body felt like it was tipping over, wanting to collapse and fall asleep.

"Five billion years and it still comes down to money."

"Do you think it's cheap, looking like this? Flatness costs a fortune. I am the last human, Doctor. Me. Not those freaky little kids of yours." Cassandra glares at the exhausted girl, who straightens up at her insult.

"I'm no kid," Miranda fires back, but stops when the truth hits her. She was only nineteen years old. Just like Rose. Comparing her age to the two oldest beings in the room made her feel like the kid she really was. A kid with a phone full of suggestive texts from a giant head who is billions of years old and traveling with a man in a leather jacket who can't stop grinning at her. Miranda can already hear what her friend would say, if she was still around. '_It's like a May-December romance. With a hint of a love triangle.' _But Miranda would deny it and label it differently. _'More like May-Ming Dynasty. And that imaginary love triangle better be a piece of pizza.' _

Interrupting her train of thoughts, the Computer blares its message, "Earth Death in three minutes."

"And here it comes. You're just as useful dead, all of you. I have shares in your rival companies and they'll triple in price as soon as you're dead. My spiders are primed and ready to destroy the safety systems. How did that old Earth song go? Burn, baby, burn."

Jabe interjects, "Then you'll burn with us."

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I know the use of teleportation is strictly forbidden, but I'm such a naughty thing. Spiders, activate. " A series of explosions erupt throughout the Platform. "Forcefields gone with the planet about to explode. At least it'll be quick. Just like my fifth husband. Oh, shame on me."

"Safety systems failing."

"Bye, bye, darlings. Bye, bye, my darlings." Cassandra and her attendants beam out, like a scene out of Star Trek. Miranda doesn't worry about Cassandra, knowing they'll get her back later on. One problem at a time. This next problem, however, involves having to switch places with Jabe so she doesn't burn and die.

"Heat levels rising."

"Reset the computer," the Moxx orders nobody in particular.

"Only the Steward would know how." At the mention of the late Steward, Miranda's frown reappears, disappointment in herself overriding the joy she felt at saving Raffalo.

"No. We can do it by hand. There must be a system restore switch. Miranda, come on. You lot, just chill." The Doctor grabs Miranda's hand to her surprise, dragging her along to the doors. Having to think of a way to replace Jabe was another problem scratched off the list. She follows the Doctor down the maintenance corridor, slipping occasionally due to her raggedy socks.

"Heat rising. Earth Death in two minutes. Earth Death in two minutes. Heat levels critical." Finally they enter the engine room, but to the dismay of the Doctor. "Oh. And guess where the switch is."

"On the other side of the turning razor sharp fans. No big deal, " Miranda casually remarks, approaching the spot where the breaker lever was at. "Heat levels rising. Heat levels rising." The Doctor pulls the lever and the fans slow a little, but it resets as soon as he lets go of it. "External temperature five thousand degrees." Miranda pulls the breaker and holds it down, already starting to feel the heat.

The Doctor starts to protest once he sees what she's doing. "You can't. The heat's going to vent through this place."

"Who says I can't," she retorts, grinning at him from where she stood. She pushes down her guilt over the Steward's death, focusing on good she's doing by taking Jabe's place, even if the event changed by the Doctor asking her to help him instead of Jabe.

"Miranda."

He stops, his stance tense and unmoving. Her grin fades, silently watching him mull over what to say next. When it becomes obvious he wasn't going to say anything more, she attempts at pulling a smile across her face, hoping it appeared genuine. "Stop wasting time." Her smile brightens as Jabe's own words pass through her mouth. "Time Lord."

"Heat levels hazardous." The Doctor dodges the first fan and runs underneath it. He looks anxiously up at the next one before turning back to see Miranda still grinning at him, then runs past the second fan. "Heat levels rising. Heat levels rising." Sweat rolls down the back of her neck, her hands slick with moisture. This is the part where Jabe would've started to combust into flames. This thought leaves little room for her to complain about the burning sensation her fragile skin was undergoing. Biting down on her bottom lip, Miranda fights her inner instinct that was telling her to let go of the lever because her hands felt like they were melting. It was similar to when she accidentally brushed her palm over the stove top or when she runs a hand over boiling water to test its heat.

The Doctor was able to make it past the last fan, wasting no time at all. He dashes for the reset breaker and shouts, "Raise shields!" A forcefield envelopes Platform One as the Earth starts to boil, then explodes, leaving the ship completely unharmed. The Doctor safely makes his way back to Miranda, whose hands were outstretched as she observed the damage.

"My hands are dying," she plainly states, wiggling her fingers in the air. The Doctor rolls his eyes at her. He pulls out a roll of healing bandages from his inner jacket pocket and starts covering her hands with the gauze like material. The Doctor explains to her about how the colored parts was medicine and it would change color when applied to a wound. When the bandage was white, the injury was healed. "Right. Thanks."

The two exit the ventilation chamber and enter the gallery in somber silence. That's when Miranda notices the absence of another life she didn't save. The Moxx of Balhoon was fried by a glare, his charred remains serving as a reminder of her failure. _'-You are meant to save people'. _With a heavy sigh, Miranda glances over at the Face of Boe to see him staring back at her. "Yeah. Not everybody."

Rose enters the room looking like a disheveled mess, her blonde hair sticking up erratically and clothes mussed. "You all right?"

Miranda keeps quiet during this exchange, lost in her own little world. "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm full of ideas, I'm bristling with them. Idea number one, teleportation through five thousand degrees needs some kind of feed. Idea number two, this feed must be hidden nearby." He smashes open the alleged ostrich egg to reveal a small device. "Idea number three, if you're as clever as me, then a teleportation feed can be reversed."

"Oh, you should have seen their little alien faces." Cassandra is beamed back in, noticing her new surroundings. "Oh."

"The last human."

"So, you passed my little test. Bravo. This makes you eligible to join, er, the Human Club." Cassandra's flustered state brings Miranda back out of her world, breaking her stare with the Face of Boe.

"Forget your Human Club. People have died. And you murdered them." There was no hint of a wobble in her voice, resulting in the last Human to look at her quizzically.

Cassandra switches expressions, now glaring at the girl who has gained the personal ire of the Lady Cassandra. "It depends on your definition of people, and that's enough of a technicality to keep your lawyers dizzy for centuries. Take me to court then, freaky little kid, and watch me smile and cry and flutter-"

"And creak?"

"And what?"

"Creak. You're creaking."

She starts to panic, her skin tightening and breaking out in red blotches. "What? Ah! I'm drying out! Oh, sweet heavens. Moisturize me, moisturize me! Where are my surgeons? My lovely boys! It's too hot!"

"You raised the temperature."

Cassandra is reduced to a begging terrified flap of skin, crying to the apathetic man in front of her. "Have pity! Moisturize me! Oh, oh, Doctor. I'm sorry. I'll do anything."

And yet, Rose Tyler is the only one in the room who somehow finds it in her heart to feel pity and remorse for the hateful last Human. "Help her."

"Everything has its time and everything dies." The Doctor's quote strikes a chord within Miranda, soon to find out she might have to apply it to multiple future situations or ignore it completely.


	9. chips and secrets

**A/N: Shortest chapter yet. Sorry about that. Consider it a segue into future events. Or a simple semi-important filler chapter. Okay since I'm going to be gone next week for almost two weeks [if that makes sense], I'll try and make up for it in possible multiple chapters this week. Or try and attempt at posting them in random intervals over the next two/three [?] weeks. Also will Miranda ever get time to sleep? The world may never know. [Thanks for any and all reviews!]**

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Everybody was long gone, even the Face of Boe. The three time travelers were the last souls left on the ship, aside from the maintenance crew. Miranda stands next to Rose in the observation gallery, watching the asteroids that were once the Earth float past the red giant Sun. While the blonde girl had tumbling emotions bubbling up within her, Miranda felt nothing. This Earth was, technically, not her Earth. Her Earth was dimensions away and far away from reach.

Rose speaks up, her voice a trembling knife that cuts into the silence of the room. "The end of the Earth. It's gone. We were too busy saving ourselves. No one saw it go. All those years, all that history, and no one was even looking. It's just..."

Their hands touch and an electric shock runs up her arm. The three hold hands and walk out of the gallery to go back to the blue box.

"Come with me."

There was no time skip and she's unused to the little moments in between scenes. Miranda goes to stand next to the console when they enter the TARDIS, waiting for the Doctor to take them to their next destination. But he takes his time to enter the coordinates, watching her out of the corner of his eyes. Miranda fidgets under his gaze, opting to stare at the massive room around her.

Unbeknownst to her, the Doctor was doing a bit of research. After he finds the results, the same information that always sends a chill down his spine, he finally takes them to Rose's present day London. Before the trio can leave the TARDIS, Miranda calls out, "Should've asked this sooner but um, do you have any shoes I can borrow?"

The Doctor stops mid-step and turns to face her, wiping his troubled look away. His gaze flickers between her raggedy socks and her curious expression. His face softens as he tells her to wait a tick and disappears down a corridor. Exactly one tick later he presents her with a pair of black sneakers and new socks. Her eyebrows furrow at how quickly he got the items. "Were these just...lying around?"

He laughs once. "Yeah. It's what you do."

"What, leave my belongings all over the place?"

"Mostly in the TARDIS. A jacket over a railing, gloves in the library...these were in a spare closet."

"Why?"

"How should I know?" He watches the still upset Rose from across the room, waiting until Miranda finished putting on her new sneakers.

"Guess I'll find out in the future," Miranda half mumbles, giving him a nod to let him know she's done. He nods back and the three proceed to leave the TARDIS. They're instantly bombarded with loud noises and throngs of people walking past them. Babies are crying, a man is laughing, another is yelling into his cell phone. Standing in the middle of teeming people going about their daily lives was a normal experience but comparing it to being with aliens on an alien ship made it feel abnormal.

"You think it'll last forever, people and cars and concrete, but it won't. One day it's all gone. Even the sky." The slight pause was noticeable by the two humans at his side. "My planet's gone. It's dead. It burned like the Earth. It's just rocks and dust before it's time."

Miranda resists the urge to tell the Doctor the truth, to let him know he's wrong, and there's no need to feel guilty about anything. Except she knows better, knows he still hasn't found Gallifrey. "What happened?"

"There was a war and we lost."

"A war with who?" When Rose doesn't get an answer from him right away, she glances over at the quiet girl who doesn't meet her gaze. "What about your people?"

"I'm a Time Lord. I'm the last of the Time Lords. They're all gone. I'm the only survivor. I'm left traveling on my own 'cos there's no one else." Miranda doesn't miss the way he subtly turns his head her way, but doesn't know what he means by his gesture. Isn't she there in his past? Or has she been gone from his life in recent years? Perhaps she's not with him at all during the war. And he had said that he hasn't seen her for awhile, back when she popped up into his TARDIS. She continues to ponder and over think, not letting him know she noticed his small action.

"There's us." Rose nods over to Miranda who distractedly responds with a weak smile.

"You've seen how dangerous it is. Do you want to go home?"

Rose replies honestly, completely unsure about the two strangers and the trip they took her on, "I don't know. I want...Oh, can you smell chips?"

"Yeah." He glances around him and when he sees Miranda's confusion, his grin grows. "Yeah."

"I want chips."

"Me too."

The two look to Miranda for her answer and opinion, completely different from the beginning where it felt like they didn't care much for it when figuring out where to time travel to. She opens her mouth once and shuts it. Sniffing the air for the chips smell they're smelling, she only detects the scent of fries. "Uh, sure."

"Right then, before you two get me back in that box, chips it is, and you can pay," Rose nods towards the Doctor, settling on wanting to travel a bit more in the bigger on the inside box.

"No money."

"What sort of date are you?" At this statement, Rose grins over at Miranda, her simple statement hinting at a wild guess the blonde girl came up with. And it was that there was definitely a May-December romance going on between the mysterious Doctor and the American girl. Miranda, oblivious to Rose's inner thoughts, returns the grin. "Come on then, tightwad, chips are on me. We've only got five billion years till the shops close."

All three of them link arms and Miranda imagines them fading out and the credits rolling, signifying the end of the episode. Except it never happened and Rose takes them to the nearest chips stand, pulling out her money to pay for the three basket of chips. As Miranda accepts the basket of chips offered to her, the obvious hits her. "Oh."

The Doctor and Rose merely laugh at her, simultaneously taking a bite of their hot chips. Eventually they find somewhere to sit and make small talk, but the conversation steers towards the topic of Miranda's origins. Rose starts to talk in between bites, keeping her tone casual. "Sorry, didn't mean to shout at you earlier about who you are."

"It's fine."

"'S okay if I ask again, yeah? It's just..the Doctor said who he was, and I was wondering 'bout you, is all."

The Doctor unconsciously leans forward, appearing interested in whatever answers Miranda would provide Rose. At this, she hesitates but says yes, waiting for the bombardment of questions. It was like being in an interview. An interview she couldn't stop yawning through.

"Are you from the future? Your phone looks strange and you're dressed a bit differently." Miranda glances down at her clothing, comparing it to Rose's. More skinny jeans, less baggy jeans. "What year are you from?"

"Uh, early 2015."

"So that's...ten years from now? What're you doing with the Doctor, traveling in between 2005 and the future..." Miranda narrows her eyes at the suggestive tone but doesn't comment on it.

"It's a bit...complicated," she answers cryptically, not liking the way the Doctor was paying close attention to her.

"Complicated how?" Rose asks, wanting to know the details on the relationship between the two time traveling strangers. She figures the information would be helpful later on, somehow.

"Just...complicated. Kind of hard to explain, really." She struggles to find the right words but nothing is coming out right. "I sort of, pop into his life every now and then. I think. Not exactly sure to be honest..." Miranda shares a look with the Doctor, silently asking him if he knows anything more. He doesn't answer and it only makes her mind soar with the possibilities. The main possibility being that she's just another River Song, someone who makes random appearances in the Doctor's timeline. She's not sure if she wants that life, at least not exactly. It was a muddled area.

"Are you two...?"

Miranda bites down hard on the chip she's eating, a bit taken back by Rose's question. She figures they already covered this back with Jabe and her assumptions about her relationship with the Doctor. Why was this such a hot topic among people? The Doctor finds the chips in front of him to be incredibly interesting and she's surprised he hasn't jumped into the conversation yet.

"Yeah, no. We're just friends," Miranda answers swiftly, finding the lack of response from the Doctor to be frustrating. Where was his instant denial at Rose's hints at something more? It contrasted greatly against their conversation about what type of relationship the two shared when questioned by the police man and Jackie Tyler. Unless he's just letting her take the reigns on the line of questioning.

"Okay," Rose accepts her answer with a not well hidden grin. Then she realizes something she said earlier. "Wait. How'd you mean you pop into his life? Don't you travel with him?"

Another yawn. Her chin rests in her hand, elbow propped up on the table. "It's complicated..." Her tired mind was providing her with zero good answers for the questions that Rose had, the same questions she had herself. The task of staying awake and keeping her eyes open to pay attention to the blonde across from her was becoming harder by the second. Before Rose could ask another question, the Doctor finally joins the conversation.

"I think it's time we let her rest now..." The Doctor watches as the girl sitting across from him starts to doze off, a chip still in her hand. Rose starts to protest but seeing Miranda sleeping silences her. She still had lots of questions left over, especially about the 'limited omniscience' from the adventure before and how Miranda knew she had gotten the bronze in gymnastics. A lot of things didn't add up about her but it would have to wait for now.

Fifteen minutes pass with the Doctor and Rose making idle chat, waiting to see how long Miranda would keep on napping if left undisturbed. Finally they decide to wake her up and head back to the TARDIS after finishing their chips. As soon as they enter the ship, Miranda makes a beeline for the seat, laying down on the small cushion. The Doctor entertains the idea of letting the blue box float in deep space while Miranda takes another nap but Rose is there and looks ready for another adventure. He wonders if Miranda wouldn't mind if they took a trip to the past while she slept but before he could entertain the notion more, he hears her call for him.

"Doctor-" Thud. She fell on the grated floor, a bright light engulfing her and sending her through the vortex. The process was the same but it didn't dull the pain any less. Her screams went unheard as she fell, not knowing where she was going to land. It wasn't long before her body drops onto a glass floor and she gasps awake to see a man in a tweed jacket race around the console to help her up. "Uh, hello."

"Hello!" The Doctor says cheerfully, looking way too happy to see her aboard his ship. Miranda observes the man before her, trying to figure out where in the Eleventh Doctor's timeline she's at. She doesn't see Amy and Rory right away and attempts to narrow down the times he's been on his own. He pulls out a blue envelope from his inner jacket pocket and it ceases all questioning. "We've got mail," he tells her excitedly, flipping the envelope around for her to see. The number 1 was on the back side. River's words come to mind: _"Number 1. Who did the Doctor trust the most?" _

"No..." Miranda tears the blue envelope from his hands and pulls the invitation out, noticing that the Doctor already opened it. Her name was written on the front and it causes her to go still. The Doctor's words from before echo in her head. _"I trust you. Completely. You'll understand one day."_

The Doctor, oblivious to her distress, continues on. "Well, technically, you've got mail. It says plus one in the invitation and since it was sent to the TARDIS, I'm assuming it means me." Miranda flips the paper over, rereading its contents to make sure. She isn't ready to face the Doctor's death, isn't ready for the Silence, and isn't ready for Space, 1969. Fifteen minutes of sleep wasn't enough to prepare her for this moment.

Multiple thoughts and questions ran through her mind. The first was that the Face of Boe was a liar. Taking a quick nap didn't count as being able to get some proper sleep. Although he had soon enough, but he didn't sound completely sure. Like it was some nearly forgotten memory but seeing the sight of her brought it back. Miranda doesn't want to question the implications behind such an assumption. Another thought presents itself. When was she going to see the Tenth Doctor? Not that she had a problem with seeing the Eleventh Doctor again but it was a bit strange, bouncing all over his timeline but not seeing that particular face as of yet.

A beep indicating a text message broke her from her rampaging thoughts. She hands the envelope back to him and opens up her phone. The Doctor carefully observes the tired girl's appearance and wonders where she came from in his timeline. There were lots of obvious factors and he's sure he knows when and where, but asks just to be safe. "Where did you come from?"

Miranda opens up the message, finding out that it was her first text from Rory Williams. What the message says makes her heart ache. '_Where are you? The picnic already started.' _Miranda doesn't reply and puts her phone away, not wanting to look at the text any longer. She realizes the Doctor is still waiting for answer. Pulling the white bandage off her healed hand and holding up her hand to show the Doctor, she tells him.

"The end of the world."


	10. fizzy drinks and spoilers

**A/N: Wow, okay, dialogue did not want to be written for this chapter. But hey, here we are. Not exactly the longest of chapters. It was all I could write before the main action of the episode occurred. Next chapter should be fun and easier to write, hopefully. Anyway, continuing on. Thanks for the reviews and such! :)**

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"Oh, so this is where you popped off to," the Doctor exclaims, reaching out to grab her hand and examine it.

Miranda simply nods, watching him carefully as he flips her hand back and forth before tugging her to the console to input the coordinates from the letter. She lets go of his hand to glide it across various buttons and switches, thinking that maybe she should learn how to fly the TARDIS. It wouldn't hurt to learn how to be the co-pilot of the blue box.

She keeps her thoughts focused on anything that wasn't about the Doctor's death. Her poker face became her neutral resting face, mindlessly tapping her fingers away on the console without actually touching any buttons.

The TARDIS wheezes. Eventually they're flying through the vortex and the thought of the time vortex sends a shiver down her spine. Raising her hand to examine it herself, Miranda's thought drift toward her last adventure. It prompts a question.

"Doctor?"

"Yes?"

"Do I...pop back?"

"What do you mean?" His gaze settles on her, his hands still flying across the console as he pilots the TARDIS.

"I mean. After I left...did I-" Miranda pauses, wondering if she should continue. "Do I come back?"

The TARDIS stops. They've landed.

"Of course you come back." A smile lights up his face. He appears distant, as if he's trying to catch and hold on to a fading memory.

"Do I..." She's not sure why she's having a hard time speaking now. Maybe she's afraid of the answer. But an answer is what she needs and so she forces her way through her tumbling words. "...stay?"

The thought of falling through the time vortex reappears and attempts to drag her down. Seeing it during the title screen was never an issue for her. It was just good CGI. Except now, every time she slips through the blinding light that swallows her and tosses her through the winds of the time vortex, it was becoming less like good CGI and more of a nightmare. The other unsettling thing about her traveling via time vortex was that it always felt like she's done it a few times more than she actually has.

This is why she wants to stay. Miranda secretly just wants to stay with one Doctor and travel with him for however long she can run. Memory serves her no clear recollection of whether or not it's been stated that she continues being thrown from one end of the Doctor's timeline to the other.

"Yes." Another bright smile. It's reflected back on Miranda's face. His wide smile and joy filled eyes bring her hope. "Looking well rested, I might add."

"Good," she replies happily, a yawn following shortly after. "Fantastic."

He laughs, taking her hand once again to guide her to the door. Miranda keeps up beside him, not thinking twice about the hand holding. He does it with all the other companions. Why should she be any different? They exit the TARDIS to find themselves in the diner's bathroom. "Drinks?"

"What, are you paying?" Miranda asks him, surprised by the offer.

"Yes." A grin greets her as he leads her out of the restroom and into the diner itself, heading to the nearest booth.

"Hm. This is different from before..." Miranda recalls with a laugh. "Before you had no money to pay for the date." She simply refers to it as 'the date'. Who the date was between, she had no idea.

"I've learned since then," he explains, sitting down in the booth and pulling out the blue envelope. Miranda takes it from him, looking it over for the hundredth time before setting it down on the table between them. Before someone could come over and take their order, the Doctor jumps up from his seat. "We need our special straws."

"Special what-" He took her by the hand and back into the restroom. She realizes in a sudden flash of clarity what he means by special straws. But what stops her thoughts from going further was that he said 'our'. The two of them had special straws. A giggle erupts from her, much to his confusion.

The Doctor continues taking her through the TARDIS and to the kitchen, leaving her to observe the large room as he searched for the two items.

Miranda gapes at the scene.

It never crossed her mind to think of what the TARDIS kitchen looked like. There obviously had to be one if the Doctor regularly made fish fingers and custard. It was simple but retro looking. This made her want to explore more of the TARDIS. So far, she'd only seen the console room and a few hallways and now the spacey wacey kitchen.

Miranda was about to sit down in the cushioned chair when the Doctor found what he was looking for and took her by the hand again.

From within the diner, River, Amy, and Rory would be talking about the Doctor's death and what he might've meant by Space, 1969. This makes her slow down and the Doctor notices. Curious, he glances down at her by his side, watching as her previous wide eyed wonder turned to dread. "What's wrong?"

The word 'nothing' flew out of her mouth before she could stop it. The closer they got to the ship's doors, the more it amplified her nervousness. It was growing and growing more with every bit of distance closed. Miranda tries to stop the churning in her stomach, but it was useless. She was too tired and exhausted to face whatever may come next.

To see Amy's crestfallen face, to observe the surprise on Rory's face, to witness River slap the Doctor for something he hasn't done yet...these were all things she didn't want to face yet. All of this added up with the fact that there's still something she doesn't know about the story and her knowing certain events was the only thing that helped her feel like she was in control in this strange universe.

_"__The Doctor knew he was going to his death, so he sent out messages. When you know it's the end, who do you call?"_

Her heart was banging against her skeleton like a mallet and it was so loud she was sure the Doctor could hear it.

_"__Er, your friends. People you trust."_

Miranda steps in front of the Doctor, entering the diner first.

_ "__Number 1. Who did The Doctor trust the most?"_

Everybody's head swivel to meet Miranda's, varying degrees of emotion represented in their expressions. Their reactions were freezer-burn on her senses. It only got worse when the Doctor appeared from behind her, oblivious to the tense atmosphere.

"This is cold. Even by your standards, this is cold," River addresses them, causing Miranda to go rigid in place while the Doctor casually expressed his confusion at their greetings.

"Or hello, as people used to say."

"Doctor?" Amy circles them, disbelief written all over her pale face. "Miranda?"

"We just popped out to get our special straws. It adds more fizz," he explains, waving their little straws in the air to prove his statement.

"You're okay. The both of you...How can you two be okay?" Amy reaches out, a part of her afraid that her hand will phase right through her friends.

Miranda doesn't budge, taking in the situation differently than she thought she would. She thought knowing what would happen would make her feel better. But little things were changing like added words in dialogue and more confusion in their stunned faces, as if seeing the Doctor alive and well wasn't strange enough but Miranda's presence dumbfounded them as well. A chill settles at the base of her spine, taking hold of her and never letting go.

One question presses itself in her mind, demanding to be answered. It wasn't the only question but it was the main one at the moment.

What exactly happened at Lake Silencio?

The Doctor gathers up Amy in his arms, wrapping her in a giant hug."Hey, of course I'm okay. I'm always okay. I'm the King of Okay. Oh, that's a rubbish title. Forget that title." He lights up when he spots Rory and releases Amy from his grasp to race over to him. "Rory the Roman! That's a good title. Hello, Rory." He lets go of the confused man to face River Song.

Meanwhile, Miranda manages to shake off the dust gathering on her shoulders and breaks from her statue stance to turn to the Ponds. Almost immediately the two of them reach out for her and hug her at once, despite their overwhelming confusion. After the hug ends, she hears River slap the Doctor, hard.

"Okay. I'm assuming that's for something I haven't done yet."

"Yes, it is." River spits acid at him, her gaze unforgiving.

"Good. Looking forward to it."

"I don't understand. How can you two be here?" Rory asks as he pokes the Doctor in the chest, trying to find the rational explanation to this mess of events.

"We were invited," Miranda pipes up for the first time since meeting the entire Pond family in the diner, her nerves starting to calm down after receiving a much needed hug but it doesn't stop her palms from sweating. The urge to bite down on her nails was rising.

"Date, map reference. Same as you lot, I assume, otherwise it's a hell of a coincidence," the Doctor adds, nodding to the blue envelope on the booth table.

"River, what's going on?" Amy turns to the other woman for answers, knowing she can't ask Miranda that question anymore. The redhead still expects her friends to turn into fading ghosts that'll disappear before her eyes and it secretly frightens her, especially after what had recently occurred.

"Amy, ask him what age he is." River's hazel eyes meet Miranda's brown eyes as if to extract information by staring directly into her soul. Shivers run down her spine, breaking the ice that settled in and trapped her. "Ask Miranda too."

She flinches.

"That's a bit personal," the Doctor protests lightly, unaware of the staring contest between the two women.

"Tell her. Tell her what age you are." River silently commands Miranda to do the same, who finally blinks and turns away from the woman whose curly hair was full of spoilers.

"Nineteen."

"Nine hundred and nine."

"Yeah, but you said you were-" Amy starts but River interrupts.

"So where does that leave us, huh? Jim the fish? Have we done Jim the fish yet?"

The Doctor stares at her like she's grown a second head. "Who's Jim the fish?"

River fixates her attention back on Miranda after the Doctor's disappointing answer.

"What? Is that a thing we do together? We hang out with Jim the fish?" Miranda asks confusingly for all she knows about Jim the fish is that apparently the Doctor and River become friends with him but from the way River is staring at her, it's become evident that Miranda is there alongside them.

"I don't understand," Amy admits, glancing between Miranda and the Doctor in bewilderment.

"Yeah, you do," Rory tells her, starting to get what was going on.

"I don't! What are we all doing here?" The Doctor blurts out, having enough with the mysteries and the fact that Miranda seems just as confused as him when normally she tends to know nearly everything.

River answers him, careful with her words and also testing to see how much Miranda knew. "We've been recruited. Something to do with space 1969, and a man called Canton Everett Delaware the third." Miranda raises her head and slowly nods, letting River know that she knew this part.

"Recruited by who?"

River picks up the blue envelope to analyze it closer, looking at the way Miranda's name was written on the front. "Someone who trusts you more than anybody else in the universe."

"And who's that?"

"Spoilers."

Upon hearing River's trademark saying causes a series of explosions to erupt within her. Miranda strays away from where River's stare kept her grounded and approaches her with a quiet rage. Her voice low and hushed, she speaks loudly enough for only River to hear. "No more. I didn't say anything or ask anything in the past when you would mention me and not knowing certain chapters in the story. I didn't want to know. But I do now."

River sees silent determination in the young girl's eyes as a new facet of Miranda's personality comes to light. Whatever adventures she's been through that's caused those dark circles to appear under her tired eyes has helped her but it's also putting a drag in her step. And yet she's still standing despite it all. River was experiencing the beginning days of her friend's journey to becoming the person she knows and trusts.

A small proud smile spreads across her face as she whispers back, "Of course, dear."


	11. eyes wide open

**A/N: Gotcha. :)**

* * *

The silence stretched on forever as the small group piled into the TARDIS for take off. Miranda could only feel mild disappointment at not being able to have fizzy drinks with the Doctor. However, she knew there were more important matters at hand. The Doctor's death being one of them. Following River and getting spoilers from her was another.

The last issue would be how was she going to deal with the Silence.

It was terrifying to know such creatures existed in the same Universe as her now. Before it was just creepy costumes and makeup in an episode she could shut off at any moment. Except this is reality. A chilling reality that contained Weeping Angels, the Silence, and dealing with the main character's death up close.

It wasn't exactly what she signed up for.

Then again, Miranda never signed up for anything. She just wished for this new reality but never expected her wish to come true. Never expected to be thrown through the time vortex and to end up in a confusing mess of sporadic episodes that only made her tired, draining her excitement at her new reality.

As Miranda drowned in her thoughts, Amy kept darting her eyes to the girl who stood to her left. Miranda appeared somewhat detached from reality, not at all paying attention to her friends in front of her. Amy was afraid that if Miranda didn't break from her thoughts, nothing would keep her grounded and she'd simply fade away into a ghost and disappear before her eyes.

And Amy had no desire to see that happen again.

From above them, they could hear the Doctor talking animatedly, getting the TARDIS ready for takeoff. "1969, that's an easy one! Funny, how some years are easy. Now, 1482, full of glitches. Now then, Canton Everett Delaware the third. That was his name, yeah? How many of those can there be? Well, three, I suppose." Barely missing a beat, the Doctor turns his attention to the man beside him. "Rory, is everybody cross with me for some reason?"

"I'll find out." Rory retreats to the lower level where everybody else resided, taking a moment to examine everybody's expressions. Miranda had made eye contact with him but he was sure she was seeing past him. Rory guesses she was actually sleeping with her eyes open, which unsettled him greatly. He'd never seen his friend in such an exhausted state. At least, never to this extent.

Amy wants to tug on Miranda's sleeve to get her attention but decides against it. Instead she sits down cross-legged, keeping her voice low so the man in the bowtie can't overhear them.

"Explain it again."

River takes charge, noticing along with everybody else that Miranda was currently sleeping with her eyes open. Nobody points out the strangeness of it. They simply let her be.

"The Doctor we saw on the beach is a future version, two hundred years older than the one up there."

"But all that's still going to happen. He's still going to die."

Somewhere in the recesses of Miranda's mind, a voice echoes. It is unclear whether it's her's or someone else's._"Wrong."_

"We're all going to do that, Amy."

"We're not all going to arrange our own wake and invite ourselves. So, the Doctor, in the future, knowing he's going to die, recruits his younger self and all of us to, to what, exactly? Avenge him?"

The voice echoes again. _"Wrong."_

River rejects that idea immediately. "Avenging's not his style."

Amy's answer is full of hope but she knows it's not the right one either. "Save him."

The voice returns and it's louder than before._"Wrong."_

"Yeah, that's not really his style either."

"We have to tell him."

A different word this time answers Amy's suggestion and Miranda is close to vocalizing it. _"No."_

River does the job for her. "We've told him all we can. We can't even tell him we've seen his future self. He's interacted with his own past. It could rip a hole in the universe."

Her statement causes even more thoughts to blow up in her mind. A question flies by. Will she interact with her own past and rip a hole in the universe? That would imply her past was important or that she herself is important. Her future was important because all signs pointed to it being connected to the Doctor's and the Doctor is important. It would also be hard for them to interact with her past considering her past in set in a different universe.

Miranda's pondering was cut off by the man in the bowtie popping his head down to address them all. "I'm being extremely clever up here, and there's no one to stand around looking impressed! What's the point in having you all?"

River's next sentence almost brings a grin to Miranda's face but her brown eyes droop and her jaw slackens. Another question arrives. How long has it been since she last slept?

"Couldn't you just slap him sometimes?"

"River, we can't just let him die. We have to stop it. How can you be okay with this?" Amy nearly mentions Miranda but doesn't in fear that she may not actually be asleep and is just silently observing. Before River answers, her gaze drifts over to where her friend stood. Nothing they were saying were breaking her free from her trance-like state. It became obvious that Miranda was beyond the state of exhaustion.

"The Doctor's death doesn't frighten me. Nor does my own. There's a far worse day coming for me."

River's cryptic tone does nothing to ease Amy's worries. And it does nothing to provoke a visible reaction from Miranda.

The group silently drifts up to the upper level, leaving the tired girl behind to see if she'd follow. Rory decides to go back and get her to respond, maybe even check to see if she was physically okay. It was his job after all. Be a nurse, he tells himself.

"Hey, Miranda?" He reaches out a hand to rest on her shoulder. "Are you...alright?"

Her head barely lowered to mimic what Rory assumed was a nod. The action was enough to convince him she wasn't completely out of it. The nurse gently guides her to the stairs to reach the rest of the group, where the Doctor was already chattering away.

"Time isn't a straight line. It's all bumpy wumpy. There's loads of boring stuff like Sundays and Tuesdays and Thursday afternoons." Miranda thinks back to her own Thursday afternoons. She always had Thursdays off so that's when she spent most of her time rewatching Doctor Who. "But now and then there are Saturdays. Big temporal tipping points when anything's possible." Miranda remembers the day she left her home with a suitcase and was sent through the time vortex. It was a Saturday. "The TARDIS can't resist them, like a moth to a flame. She loves a party, so I give her 1969 and NASA, because that's space in the sixties, and Canton Everett Delaware the third, and this is where she's pointing."

"Washington D.C., April the eighth, 1969."

Miranda's nose twitches. President Nixon. It could be worse. She could be meeting Andrew Jackson. History lessons of the Indian Removal Act scroll past her mind. Yeah, she concludes, it could be way worse.

"So why haven't we landed?"

A shift in the atmosphere makes her skin crawl. The Doctor's excitable mood is quickly switching to a dangerous one.

"Because that's not where we're going."

An oblivious Rory steps out from beside Miranda to stand next to his wife. "Oh. Where are we going?"

"Home," the Doctor exclaims, drifting away from the console. "Well, you two are. Off you pop and make babies. And you, Doctor Song, back to prison. Miranda, time for you to take a rest." She bristles at the mention of her name. "And me? I'm late for a biplane lesson in 1911. Or it could be knitting. Knitting or biplanes. One or the other." The Doctor flops on the seat and Miranda finds herself joining him, limbs begging for a rest.

"What? A mysterious summons. You think I'm just going to go? Who sent those messages? I know you know. I can see it in your faces. Don't play games with me. Don't ever, ever think you're capable of that."

Miranda feels her heart pulsate nervously and her throat tighten. Slow blinking turns into a hard stare as she begins calculating something that seemingly existed between dimensions. Finally she averts her focus to the man in the bowtie beside her.

The Doctor pins Miranda with an indecipherable gaze as River replies, "You're going to have to trust us this time."

All thoughts ceased when he stood up and patted her once on the head before directing all of his attention on River. "Trust you? Sure. But, first of all, Doctor Song, just one thing. Who are you? You're someone from my future. Getting that. But who?" Silence. Miranda resists the urge to jump in. It was the smallest of urges and she couldn't trust her mouth to work anyway. "Okay. Why are you in prison? Who did you kill, hmm?" Too tired to glance in River's direction, Miranda settles with closing her eyes and rests her back fully against the seat. "Now, I love a bad girl, me, but trust you? Seriously?"

Brown eyes open to meet green eyes. She felt like a butterfly pinned by needles and her lips quiver as if ready to spill words. After Amy inclines her head ever so slightly, Miranda forces her limbs to wake up and stand.

"Trust me."

Everybody swivels their head to face Miranda who swallows down a bulbous knot of air. Her mind was instantly floundering. The Doctor draws himself toward her like a curious moth awestruck by a flame. Except his face was dangerous and Miranda visibly flinches at the sight of him. It felt like only moments ago they were holding hands and retrieving their special straws. Now it was as if none of that happened.

Without dramatic background music, the silence in the TARDIS helped her understand just how loud thoughts could be. It left her reeling for large breaths of air. When the Doctor was close enough he rests his hands on her shoulders, gripping her tightly. Hazel eyes search her own. His face softens. Her heart skips a beat.

"You weren't there with them, Miranda. How do you know what's going on?" The Doctor doesn't doubt what he saw back in the diner. Miranda was just as confused as him.

Before she could stop herself, Miranda blurts out the phrase she hoped wouldn't become her catchphrase, "I know everything." Catching River's gentle shake of her head from her peripheral vision, Miranda quickly attempts to backtrack but there's no need. The Doctor dismisses her outburst.

"I know you..." The Doctor mentally finishes his sentence. This is not his Miranda. "You're still at the beginning and I know everything is still new for you." He gently pushes her back into the seat, silently commanding her to stay. "You just need some rest." After he lowers himself to her level, he takes her face in his hands and places his forehead against her's. Instantly she's reminded of angels in catacombs and all of her previous worries.

It reminds her of the first time the Doctor said he trusted her, completely.

Not that any of what he said matters now. The situation is different. And she's much too tired to contemplate on the matter further.

His fingertips brush past her face with hinted fondness before retracting completely. Before turning away, he adds, "I can't trust you. Not now." A beat. "Nobody knows everything. Not even you."

Miranda doesn't protest. What he said was true. She doesn't even know what really happened at Lake Silencio. None of her knowledge from the show was helping her now. Her tired mind convinces her that she doesn't want to know anymore. River can keep her information about the certain chapters in the story to herself.

There was a reason they were spoilers. Better to keep them that way until the day she needs to know, Miranda decides. She doesn't want to deal with the mysteries. She only wants to return to the man in the leather jacket and the girl with blonde hair.

After a long nap.

Or two.

Amy cuts in and the conversation continues on without her, almost as if she never interfered in the first place. "Trust me."

"Okay."

The spotlight is taken off of her and she couldn't be more grateful for the brief moment to rest her eyes. Minutes later and one of her favorite moments occur. The interaction between Amy and the Doctor brings a faint smile to her face.

"Swear to me. Swear to me on something that matters."

Flashes of little Amelia Pond eating ice cream while the newly regenerated Doctor dunks fish fingers into a large bowl of custard appear. The Eleventh Hour was one of her favorite episodes. Except it isn't really an episode anymore. It's real. Miranda will never get over the shock of that information.

"Fish fingers and custard."

"My life in your hands, Amelia Pond."

"Thank you."

"So! Canton Everett Delaware the third. Who's he?"

All of their voices drift into one monotonous wave. It falls over her, blanketing Miranda in a sea of calmness.

The calm doesn't last.

There's a light. She shoots up from the seat, eyes wide open. No time to say her farewells before her knees wobble and start collapsing underneath their weight. The light swallows her whole and the sensation is the same as all the times previous. Miranda will never get over the shock of traveling through the time vortex either.

The journey through the time vortex isn't long. She lands perfectly. And by perfectly, Miranda is on her knees, head lolling forward. One gasp later she's standing up quickly and wavers in place, taking in her new environment. It was an office, she could tell that much. Her cloudy mind attempts to decipher where she's landed, focusing on the little clues her blurry eyesight was providing her.

There was a long table with numerous chairs surrounding it. It was the figure at the front of the room that draws her attention. The blurry figure had turned around in the time it took her to regain her senses.

Slow blinking returns her normal vision. She wishes it hadn't. The blurry figure transforms into a familiar one.

"The Master."

The sight of the infamous Timelord leaves her breathless. It was _**not **_in a good way. It was the exact opposite.

The man stares at her. A flicker of recognition crosses his face and it's enough to set her veins aflame. The moment is broken when a light consumes her and drops her into the screaming vortex. Miranda has never been happier to fly through the turbulent winds.

Said turbulent winds knock her around until she's flying through the air and lands face first in the dirt. The following gasp gives her a mouth full of the soil in the field she's landed in. Miranda scrambles to her feet and turns around in a complete circle. No sign of the Master. It settles down her beating heart enough for her to figure out where she's landed next.

The flat grassy field made it easier to spot the dark figures in the distance but they were too far away for Miranda to discern what they may be. One step forward and she's spiraling into the light again. The light throws her directly into concrete, the unforgiving sidewalk scraping her outstretched palms and knees. The gasp turns into a pained cough. Head pounding viciously from the rough landing, Miranda lifts up into a sitting position with an annoyed expression.

Whatever or whoever was tossing her through the time vortex had no idea what they were doing. A thought tugs at her. Perhaps it was for fun. Miranda's displayed annoyance shifts into extreme irritation. All she asked for was a nap. That was probably too much to ask of the universe in her case.

A throbbing stretches across her forehead and into her skull. Using her scuffed bleeding hand to jab and press against her face, Miranda groans in frustration at her impending headache. Her hand rubs uselessly down the side of her face and she squints, noticing two distant figures walking with their backs turned away. One in a long flowing coat and the other in a baggy hoodie.

A nagging sensation tells her the second person is her but who was the man in the coat? There were a few possibilities she was willing to entertain. Scrambling to her feet, she tries to make a run for them. Before she can shout for them to turn around, Miranda trips and ends up flying through the time vortex once more.

Soaring through the vortex and back out, her body flies for a brief moment until it falls. No office, no field, no sidewalk is there to greet her. Only a bed with the most comfortable pillows in the world is there to catch her aching body.

Miranda falls asleep moment later.


	12. next stop nowhere

**A/N: Written at 4am. Next chapter will be longer with more substantial dialogue, a little something before the next big adventure, and will arrive sooner rather than later. And may or may not establish a few building blocks for future plot lines. **

* * *

She likes these simple moments, standing out here with her mother watching the sun rise in the brisk morning air. It makes things feel normal for her, like there's nothing wrong with the world.

And there isn't.

Miranda swings the screen door shut behind her and takes a seat next to her mom, Marie, on the porch. A heavy backpack laden with textbooks and notebooks presses against her back, reminding her of what her day will consist of. Long hours of schoolwork and enduring people were ahead of her. It makes her wish the sun rise would last forever and she wouldn't have to leave the porch and take on the day.

"It's just another day," her mom comforts her. She was right. It was going to be just another day with nothing special or out of the ordinary happening. Normal. Miranda could live with that.

"Where's Dad?"

"Still inside getting ready for work."

"Ah."

The sun starts to take its place in the sky, the moon disappearing from view. A person approaches their house, waving at the pair sitting outside. An overwhelming feeling punches her in the gut. Miranda smiles but she knew it wasn't real. It was her patented upside frown. The feeling was familiar. She misses the person in front of her. But that couldn't be right. The person in front of her was her friend and she was right there. How could she miss her? Miranda dismisses the out of place feelings and stands up to join her friend on the short walk to the high school.

"Bye mom." Her dad makes an appearance, placing his bulletproof vest over his chest before waving at them. "Bye dad." A chorus of "have a nice day at school" rang out and the two friends were off. Before they entered the building, something caught Miranda's eye. A reflection in the glass doors stole her attention.

It was a blue box.

Disappearing as quickly as it appeared, the blue box hid behind clouds and her heart dropped. Turning back to go into the school, Miranda stops in her tracks at the sight inside. An unknown word passes through her mind. K_enopsia.__T_he eerie, forlorn atmosphere of a place that's usually bustling with people but is now abandoned and quiet. The school was void of students. Her friend was nowhere to be seen. The familiar feeling from before comes and goes in waves, drowning her in their sorrow.

The blue box returns.

The wheezing echoes around her, growing louder and louder until the TARDIS appeared. A bright light blinds her when the doors fly open. A hand reaches out to her, beckoning for her to come closer. It was a sight she was waiting for her whole life.

"Come with me."

There was no doubt in her mind that it was the Doctor. It didn't matter which Doctor, all that mattered was that it was _him. _And he was asking _her_ to come with him. Like something out of an impossible dream.

"No."

A different hand connects with her's. It belongs to a man in a long flowing coat. It was not a hand she had wanted to hold.

It was Captain Jack Harkness.

The TARDIS disappeared again. Jack led her away from the school and away from her home. No words were spoken between them. Only silence. The day had turned to night and the stars were their only source of light. She let go of his hand, turning away from him to face the night stars.

"Don't go."

Miranda was quick to respond.

"Don't go where?"

She turns back, only to find Jack was replaced with someone else.

It was the Doctor.

It wasn't a specific Doctor. Every time she blinks, he changes into a different version. It was still _him._ It did not matter to her which version it was, her brain still registered him as the Doctor and no one else. A serious man with big ears and a leather jacket grins at her, suspicion hidden in his blue eyes. A distant man with great hair and a pinstripe suit smiles at her, revealing nothing behind brown eyes. A sad man with a bowtie and a tweed jacket hugs her, familiarity and warmth etched inside his hazel eyes. A grumpy man with attack eyebrows and magician clothing holds her hand, unexplainable emotions whirling around in his dark eyes.

Miranda lets go of the Twelfth Doctor's hand, taking a slow step backwards into the side of a blue box. Twisting her head around to see the TARDIS, she swivels back to see the Doctor was gone.

She blinks.

The Doctor returns as his ninth incarnation, holding Rose Tyler's hand with no trace of the serious expression from before. They're walking towards her, towards the TARDIS, with no acknowledgment of her presence.

The image transforms.

The Tenth Doctor continues holding Rose's hand, no distant far-away look in his eyes, only adoration and happiness. Rose disappears and Martha takes her place who is soon joined by Donna. The Doctor and his friends make their way closer to her and the TARDIS until Martha leaves his side and Donna makes a left turn away from him. Rose is by his side for a moment and not a moment longer.

He changes.

The Eleventh Doctor holds the hands of Amelia Pond and eventually, Rory Williams. The sadness is no longer there and she can see the pure joy and excitement on his face. Amy and Rory come and go but River Song is there to keep him company on his way to the TARDIS. Eventually, Amy and Rory never come back and River Song has faded into a ghost. The Impossible Girl takes her place by the Doctor's side, holding his hand and never letting go. Even when the Eleventh Doctor changed into the Twelfth Doctor. The Doctor and Clara Oswald enter the TARDIS without a single glance her way and leave in a series of whirring and dust.

Throughout his entire journey, the Doctor was never really alone. He always had someone by his side. Never once did she appear. She was stuck on the sidelines as his timeline flew by. His life marched on, with or without her.

"Hold on."

He came back. Miranda holds his hand. They fall through a crack and travel through the time vortex. Somewhere along the way, their hands disconnected. She let go. There was no idea in her mind about where she was going to land.

Next stop; nowhere.

She landed. He was there. She woke up.

…

Miranda jolts up from the bed, sweat beading down her neck. Eyes wide at her new environment that she landed in a few hours ago, she flails off the bed and onto the floor. Heavy breathing filled the air. "Whoa." How could she be so quickly comfortable in a stranger's bed in a place she's unfamiliar with?

The question answered itself by the appearance of the man in her dream. Her dream that she was definitely going to have to spend a full day mulling and over thinking about. It was a completely ridiculous dream that played itself over and over again in the back of her tired mind. The man from her silly over-the-top dream smiles.

It was Captain Jack Harkness.


	13. cold hearts with cheesecake

**A/N: Thanks for any and all reviews! I appreciate them all. They're what keeps me going. Almost done with the dialogue for the next chapter so we're halfway there. **

**...**

* * *

"No...I'm still dreaming, aren't I?" Miranda asks no one in particular but sees the growing smile on Jack's face as an answer. An answer that sets her nerves on fire. Incredibly fidgety and fighting the urge to bite down on her thumbnail, Miranda stands up on shaky legs and sits back down on the bed. More precisely, Jack's bed. That clarification did nothing to ease her shaking legs. After realizing this obvious information, Miranda stands back up, bouncing anxiously on her heels, as if the very idea of existing gave her great discomfort. Her toes curled slightly in her worn sneakers, insinuating shyness.

"I've got to admit, I didn't think I'd ever find you here in my room of all places. This is certainly a surprise." Jack's wide smile eases into an easy grin, drawing closer and closer to her with each step he took. "Not that I'm complaining but..."

After he trails off, Miranda clears her throat, doing her best to pull her drowsy self together. Truth be told, she'd rather curl back up in a ball and fall back asleep instead of trying to deal with Captain Jack right now. Her mind was already enough of a mess as it is. She didn't need to add Captain Cheesecake's nonsense into the mix. Captain Cheesecake. She smiles. Mickey. Rose. The Ninth Doctor. She's reminded of the fact that she'd soon be going back to them. 'Yeah, but when?' her mind asks.

Jack takes her smile as a good sign and stands directly in front of her, his own stance suggesting that he was comfortable around her. Miranda manages to relax, her limbs no longer restless. "So where did you last leave off at? Last time I saw you was when..." The sudden shift in the atmosphere between them leaves her skin crawling. Miranda tries to subtly deduce when and where in the universe she was at. Captain Jack's room in the underground Torchwood facility in Cardiff was the correct and most obvious answer but where in his timeline was Jack at?

By the time he looked up and met eyes with her, she was in the midst of swallowing down a knot of air the size of a boulder, lips pursed in concentration. He had looked lost, taking a long pause with huffing breaths as if remembering something terrible. Miranda flinches at the thought, not liking the implication that something wrong had occurred the last time Jack met her.

The awkward silence had stretched on until Jack no longer showcased any emotion and gave her an unconvincing smile. Miranda had half a mind to ask what was wrong but was interrupted by his attempt to change the subject. "Never mind. So." Jack takes a long look at her, inhaling deeply through his nose. "Look at you." Miranda tenses when he starts reaching for her, looking as though he wanted to wind an arm around her the way couples tended to do. But he ends up freezing midway as if remembering another terrible thing. This time, Miranda doesn't hold back the question.

"What's wrong?"

His arm retreats back to its original position and he turns away, placing himself back in front of her. The same distant expression she had seen the Tenth Doctor wear in her dream, which she was still having difficulty fully processing had actually happened, was now on Jack's face. "I'm surprised you don't know already. You tend to know everything."

"No." She quickly responds, a hint of bitterness hidden in her words. Thinking back to previous events, she shakes her head at him. "No, not everything." The same bitterness she displays is reflected back in Jack's weary eyes. Desperate to know what the terrible thing was, Miranda continues on before he can get a word in. "What last happened with you?"

"I believe I asked first," he retorts back, avoiding her question as she expected.

Rolling her eyes at him, not caring if he saw, she decides to answer him. "I was..." Except what was her answer? When he first asked her, he made it sound like he wanted to know when she last saw him. And she very well couldn't tell him that. She's against mentioning that she met his future self in the form of a large ancient head. Something told her that wouldn't go over well. Instead, she tells him what she was last doing with the Doctor. "I was on a date."

"Oh?" His gaze was fixated on her, waiting for her to continue and elaborate.

Except there was little to elaborate on. It wasn't really a date. If anything, it was a date between Rose and the Ninth Doctor and she was the tired third wheel. And the outing between her and the Eleventh Doctor had been nothing more than an attempt to have some fizzy drinks before it was interrupted by spoilers. Almost immediately after Jack gave her the cue to keep going, everything inside her head became static.

"Well..." She starts, a bit surprised he hadn't commented on her sudden silence. "I wouldn't call it a date. I was with the Doctor. A future version of the Doctor that you know." He tacks all of his attention on her with intrigue at this piece of information but otherwise appears neutral at the mention of the Doctor. This must be after he is reunited with the Doctor, she assumes. "Okay, I answered your question. Now answer mine." She blinks at her tone that she used with him but chalks up to still feeling exhausted and groggy.

"Fair enough." He shrugs, sweeping his eyes over her face before settling for staring directly at her dark orbs. "The Year That Never Was."

"Oh." He held up a hand that suggests he wasn't yet done dumping information on her.

"Captain John Hart. He found Gray."

Another 'oh' exits her mouth before she can stop it. The static in her mind transforms into a working machine, already starting to process and acknowledge that Jack has basically just gotten done going through hell. And here she was, simply tired and still reeling from being thrown through multiple episodes. She didn't compare. She wouldn't dare start complaining, not that she would in the first place. All of this tanks her mood to uncharted depths.

It was quiet enough to hear her blood pulsing. Neither of them said a word after the truth was revealed about what happened to Jack recently. Miranda knows she has to say something more than 'oh'. And saying 'I'm sorry' seems lame. No longer was he wearing a smile at her presence. This change in demeanor in Jack explains his early statement about her tending to know everything. It wasn't out of line to assume this means Jack didn't exactly hold fuzzy feelings towards her. If Miranda is supposed to know everything, then she could've known to prevent The Year That Never Was, could've helped out with Captain John Hart, and she could've been the one to tell Jack about Gray.

Along with feeling useless about not being able to help Jack out more, she was also feeling left out when it came to the Doctor. He was never really alone and he always had someone by his side. This was something her very confusing dream made sure to point out. Miranda was never there and it was because she wasn't meant to be there. She could see herself being there in those small moments where the Doctor was without a companion but those points in time were small and far in between. No, there was no going around it. She was not needed.

Inadequate.

That's what she was in this moment. Staring up at Jack, a man who is supposed to be her friend, did nothing to help the guilt that was eating at her. No, the small optimistic side of her insists that she can still help stop The Year That Never Was and that she can be the one to tell him about Gray first. The more rational side argues that she might not be able to stop The Year That Never Was but she can at least lessen the pain and torture that Jack goes through. Somehow. And the whole Captain John Hart and Gray situation was something to ponder more carefully in the future. One crisis at a time, her overworked mind tells her.

While Miranda was struggling to come up with a way to fix the problem, Jack had suggested they discuss everything more in the morning. Miranda couldn't argue with that. She definitely needed more sleep in order to help deal with everything. She could feel her sanity slip through her fingers and it wouldn't be long before she collapses in on herself.

Jack circles around the bed and starts removing his coat and shoes. Miranda mimics his actions, opting to leave her baggy t shirt and skinny jeans on before hesitantly climbing on Jack's bed. Back against the sheets and staring straightforward at the ceiling, she doesn't try to sneak a peek at the man undressing out of the corner of her eye. She did **not **need that mental image floating around in her already crowded brain. She starts shifting noisily while trying to get comfortable lying on her back, frustration building up in the back of her throat. Jack notices but doesn't say anything as he pulls a giant blanket from an unknown location and throws it on the bed in a heap. Miranda disappears underneath it, the overwhelming scent of Jack invading her senses. The ex-conman himself lays down on top of the blanket, providing them a small barrier and leaving her more comfortable with the idea of sharing a bed with Captain Jack Harkness.

The two stare up at the ceiling in silent contemplation and in hopes that the answers to all their questions lie up there on the blank wall. Movement to her right notifies her that Jack has now directed his attention on her, studying the girl beside him. Miranda's dark eyes have glazed over, giving no indication as to whether she fell asleep with her eyes open again or not.

"You should be sleeping," Jack murmurs, inching closer to hear her reply more clearly.

"I should be sleeping," Miranda mumbles in reply, not entirely anchored to reality.

"We should be sleeping together." He waits, watching with a smirk as her expression shifts into one of near horror. What he gets in response is a sound of indignation and a pillow to the face. Jack laughs and Miranda swears it's the most wonderful thing to hear at 1pm in the morning especially after the close argument the two almost got into earlier.

"What's the point of sleeping?" Miranda grumbles after Jack's laughter dies down. He ponders her out of the blue question, not sure what sort of answer she expected from him. He chalks it up as a rhetorical question, giving her a hum of acknowledgment.

Although Miranda dreads having to face the dream again, her eyelids grow heavy and she struggles to keep them open. With that and the warmth of Jack beside her, she keeps drifting off, only noticing when her head lolls to the side and she jerks awake. She bumps his shoulder with the side of her head, growing embarrassed at the action. A few more times this occurs and he lets out a little laugh. "Miri, go to sleep." His voice, low and rhythmic in the darkness of his room, nearly lulls her to sleep.

The anxiety was still there, throbbing in her chest painfully no matter how much she tries to ignore it. But Jack was there right next to her and strangely, that's enough for her to feel comforted. So Miranda curls up on her side on the bed, her back towards Jack, using the pillow she threw at him between them as a barrier. She finds herself missing the warmth of having Jack right next to her and tries not to wonders at what means, if it meant anything at all beyond the innate need for basic human contact. And with those thoughts tumbling around her exhausted mind, Miranda quickly drifts off into a hazy wonderland.


	14. silent hearts with strangers

**A/N: Of course, when I finally finished the chapter, the site doesn't work. I figure this gives me more time to look over and edit or even start the next chapter but all it resulted in was me second-guessing every sentence or word. I ended up questioning every line of dialogue or how I wrote the characters or why wasn't Jack cooperating with me on how I wanted a scene to go and just- Anyway, to get over that I decided to start making this 'vidlet' for the story. Weird how that helped. **

**Thanks, as always. ****R&amp;R.**

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Instead of rolling over to an empty bed like she's used to, she wakes up with arms wrapped around her. A slight exhale tickles the back of her neck and his arms pull her in closer. A small whisper escapes his mouth, the kind that leaves her confused for the rest of the day. That's when she notices it. The pillow had disappeared. The barrier between them was gone. Her first instinct is to scramble out of bed and possibly berate the Captain for breaching her comfort zone but it occurs to her that it was probably an accident and she should let it go. It wasn't all that terrible the longer she laid there, contemplating her future actions. In fact, she could even go as far as to say she didn't mind it. Laying next to the attractive Captain wasn't the worst thing that's happened so far.

That's when her mind screeched to a grinding halt.

Captain Cheesecake? _Attractive? _Sure, it was a universally accepted fact that Captain Jack Harkness was a charismatic individual who could 'woo' just about anyone he wanted. And it was generally known that many others were just as interested in Jack as soon as he introduces himself to them. So it was safe to assume that there were others vying for his attention and that she shouldn't count herself among one of them. At this point in time, the ones she was aware of were Ianto, Gwen, and possibly Hart. And if she recalls correctly, Jack had been the one to ask Ianto out on a date.

All of this propels her to stop over thinking this silly matter.

Miranda's eyes fly open and divert all around as she slowly re-adapts to the waking world after her dreamless slumber. With squinting eyes, she watches particles of dust glitter in the light of a nearby lamp. The serenity of her environment was not lost on her. It was enough to make her contemplate staying in bed further, despite her earlier inner turmoil about the man beside her. Once she was familiar with her surroundings, she starts to pull herself away from Jack's arms that were clutched tightly around her. This action stirs the ex-conman awake and he twists his body around to let her go. The moment their eyes met, a sleepy smile curves up on his lips and he murmurs, "Morning."

With her voice still rough with sleep, she echoes his greeting. "Mornin'." Miranda focuses her gaze on Jack, his words from last night not the only thing needling at her, asking for her attention. She sees the cold distance in his eyes while he stares out into the room, lost in memory and thoughts. Whatever the memory and thoughts he was caught up in, it wasn't good and she didn't like it. It only serves to stab a guilty knife through her churning stomach.

She attempts to bring him back down to Earth, clearing her throat and brushing a thumb across the back of his hand. He turns his head down to meet her steady gaze, his distant expression fading away and softening when he spots the faint smile she's giving him. An easy grin answers her small smile. She catches a glimpse of an unknown emotion in his eyes before he blinks and it's shuttered away. Sighing softly, she jumps up from his bed and stands on relaxed limbs.

Before she was granted the sleep she so desperately needed, Miranda knew she was teetering, her sanity in near shambles. Staying up for days on end, trying her best to survive adventures that used to be only simple entertainment, and running on adrenaline alone was enough to stretch her mind to its thinnest. All of that and coupled with other personal issues she had makes a thought pop up. What if she wasn't fit for this type of lifestyle? Squashing the horribly timed thought, Miranda turns on her heels to face Jack fully. "Shower?"

"Sure, go ahead." Jack shrugs from his position on the bed, giving her permission to use his bathroom. A smirk graces his features, his charm on full blast when he gets up and stands next to her. "Mind if I join?"

As he expected, she doesn't respond in embarrassed sputters or badly covered up giggles. Instead she lifts an eyebrow in his direction, ignoring the brief warm fizzle his words sent down her spine. "Uh, noooo." She draws the word out, ending it with a single laugh and an amused smile. Jack drops the smirk and returns the smile, watching her leave and enter the bathroom. He always knew Miranda hardly ever responded to his flirting attempts. Never did she 'swoon' in the past. She just laughed. Jack found that he liked that reaction above anything else.

After Miranda entered the bathroom, she drifts over to the mirror to observe her current state. Well-rested. Her fingers twitch against the cool ceramic sink, eyes dropping away from her reflection as she reels in a long pocket of air. Twisting away from the mirror, she turns on the shower in the corner, waiting for it to heat up. When she goes back to return to the mirror she found herself staring down a blurry ghost. The steam from the running hot water had fogged up the glass, hiding all of her imperfections and signs of wear on her tan face. The shower was almost ready so she starts to disrobe her rumbled clothing, kicking them into a pile after she was done.

Miranda climbs into the shower, letting the blanketing heat of the water soak her and soothe her aching muscles. She reaches for the shampoo, not minding the fact that she was using Jack's bath products and would soon smell like him. It wasn't the worst fate in the world. No, the 'worst fate in the world' would be if Jack actually _was_ in the shower with her. She applauds her ability to hide her mortification at the idea and brush it off with a laugh.

Miranda exits the shower after going through her normal washing routine and grabs a towel off the rack. Standing there with dripping hair and damp skin, she realizes that she didn't exactly have clean clothing available. She wraps the towel around her tightly and peeks her head out the door, casting her gaze down on the floor to see Jack had dropped off clothing for her. Grabbing the folded clothes and shutting the door behind her, Miranda begins the process of dressing herself in the provided attire. Jack's black shirt was baggy on her but she didn't mind. What she did mind was that the other articles of clothing actually fit her. Why on Earth did she have clean clothing readily available in Jack's room? The Doctor had mentioned earlier that she had a tendency to leave her belongings all over the place but this was a bit much. There was even a bra and a pair of underwear for her. Time to ask Jack about that.

Grabbing a comb before she left, Miranda ventures out and sits down in a nearby chair, wrestling any tangles in her long dark hair. Jack came out from an unknown location, fully dressed and ready for the day. He patiently waits for her, stance casual with his hands shoved in his pant's pockets. "So...about my clothes..."

"You left them behind awhile ago. Claimed you might need them sometime in the future. Looks like you were right." Jack approaches her with one arm out and it wasn't until several moments later that Miranda realizes she was supposed to take it. Miranda shrugs her jacket on after she puts down the comb and loops her arm through his, letting him escort her out of his bedroom and into the Torchwood hub. He chuckles at her expression when she tries to twirl around to view the entirety of the place before he takes her to the outside world through the weird invisible lift. She calls it the weird invisible lift because she doesn't quite remember the details about how it worked.

The twinkling stars from the previous night had started to fade as dawn rapidly approached. The sun was embarking on its journey into the morning sky, fiery brilliant colors chasing after it in a melted array. Miranda blinks at her new view, the waterfall behind her demanding her attention. She turns her body around in circles, marveling at the sight of Cardiff. She was standing in the city where they did most of the Doctor Who and Torchwood filming. Miranda knew she shouldn't have been overly impressed by the sights in a simple place like this but she couldn't help it. It was all just as cool as an alien planet. Sort of.

Miranda closes her gaping mouth, noticing that Jack was right next to her giving her a puzzled look. In an attempt to explain herself, she tells him, "It's pretty."

Jack looks down at her with amusement, smiling, "Yeah, it is."

Miranda redirects her gaze back up at the ex-conman, raising an eyebrow at his out of the blue smile. "Right." She knew he was probably silently making fun of her for thinking Cardiff was a pretty place. But it was, she silently protests. The sunrise helped make it so.

"Come on, let's talk over breakfast." Jack jostles her arm, dragging her attention away from the morning sky. He takes her to a nearby cafe, the two of them quickly ordering their desired meals and sipping on coffee. The silence was broken by Jack's following statement, "I'm not mad at you."

"Well, good." Miranda blandly replies, a bit taken back from the conversation change that vaguely reminds her of a previous comment from the Doctor. _"Miranda, if I'm happy to see you, that means we're friends..." _Jack had been more or less happy to see her. Or at least, he didn't completely dislike her for the past events that happened to him that she could've prevented.

"The Year That Never Was. Me and you. We saw the end of the world. And we-" He halts mid-sentence, as if remembering information he isn't supposed to tell her. Miranda wants to tell him to continue his train of thought but she has a few secrets of her own. Whatever the rest of his sentence was, it must've been spoilers. She can understand that. "Sorry. I know you haven't experienced those days yet. I can see it in your face." Miranda frowns, a part of her wanting to know her role in the event that made Jack change his mind about traveling with the Doctor. "Look. What happened before, it wasn't your fault. If you could've found a way to change things...I know you would've. Because that's what you do." He offers a smile in contrast to her frown.

But he must be so disappointed in her. He saw her in his past and she's this brilliant person who knows almost everything and can help change events. Except now here she is, not knowing a single moment of it and not remembering any of their time together. And to top it all off, her future self wasn't even able to come up with a way to change anything. She thinks about saying sorry, but knows it would be a lame response.

Truth be told, she had grown to appreciate and like Jack's character. Well, a 'character' to her back home when she was watching him on her tv screen. But right now with him sitting across from her, real as the air she's breathing, wearing a sad smile because her silence confirms that she isn't the Miranda he knows and trusts...

And then she says it.

She says that she's sorry. He gets up and sits down next to her in the booth, pulling her forward into his arms. "There's nothing to be sorry about." The moment is broken up from the arrival of their food and Jack returns to his seat. The two strangers start eating breakfast, almost completely content now that the issue was resolved. After they finished and Jack paid the bill, much to the embarrassment of Miranda who had no money, they went on a walk through the streets to take the long way back to the Hub. The first part of the walk mostly consisted of jokes and storytelling on Jack's end with Miranda laughing and adding an occasional comment but he could tell her mind was elsewhere. "What's on your mind?"

"I don't want you to be my listening board," Miranda quickly counters, not relishing the idea of spilling her guts or complaining about her little problems to Jack.

"What if I'm volunteering?" He retorts just as fast, nudging her with his shoulder. He could see the ghost of other things haunting her eyes and wanted to find out the source behind them.

Miranda draws in a deep breath that rattles her chest, figuring out how to go about addressing the main issue on her mind. "I don't know if I'm companion material or not. I thought I was but..."

"But...?"

She doesn't continue, opting to stick her thumbnail near her mouth. Jack disapproves of her bad habit by grabbing her hand and holding it to prevent her nail biting. Prodded by the gentle squeeze of his hand, she swallows hard, her voice thick. "I don't...know. You'd think me having, uh, future knowledge would help me deal with certain things. But it doesn't. Not really. I mean, I couldn't handle stone angels. I barely did anything against plastic dummies. The thought of facing against aliens that look like Slender Man isn't one I'm looking forward to. And when I fell through the time vortex and saw The Master of all people..." Jack bristles at the mention of the infamous Time Lord but doesn't interrupt.

"The only good thing I've done is save a blue girl named Raffalo on Platform One." Well, now she knows how the Face of Boe knew she could save people back on the observation ship. "I don't even think I can take credit for suggesting to the Doctor to go back for Rose. I'm sure he would've gone back for her regardless." That one was hard for Jack to ignore but he lets her finish. "I'd like to think I'm getting better at it but...I don't know what to think." She gives a halfhearted shrug. "Oh and that dream. It was...the weirdest dream ever. All it did was make me think. And you know how dangerous that is." This prompts a laugh from Jack. "It made me think...What am I without the Doctor? What am I without my family? I have nothing outside of them." She pauses again, struggling to hold back the emotion that was starting to seep into her rambling words. She bites down on her lower lip, worrying it between her teeth as she regains control over her voice. "And it sucks. It really, really sucks that my life seems to revolve around him. Except the Doctor never needed me. The only people that might've needed me were my mom and brother and I left them behind. I always did want to leave. But now that I have..."

Before Miranda could blink Jack had his arms around her, pulling her firmly to his chest and tucking her head under his chin. The words to ask why he was doing this were caught in her throat like claws had latched onto them and dragged them down, preventing her from speaking. Miranda was sure she had stopped all signs of emotion from escaping. Maybe it was something displayed on her face. Maybe she was crying again, like the last time in the creepy catacombs where she had no idea it was happening in the first place. The Eleventh Doctor had tried fussing over her, asking her if she was alright. Whatever the reason was that made Jack want to hug her, she was grateful for it. Maybe, just maybe, this hug was what she needed to help convince herself to get on with her life and do the best that she possibly can.

He never broke the hug, not even to ask if she was okay or to ask about the reference to the Master or the Doctor going back for Rose. All he did was smooth a hand down her back and tug her closer. Her arms maneuvered to help hold him too with her head shifting to rest against his chest to feel the rise and fall of his chest. It was a few more minutes before she regained her voice and trusted it to speak for her. "Tell me a joke."

"Knock knock."

"Who's there?"

"Doctor."

"..."

A muffled laugh.

"Doctor who?"

"Exactly."

"Jack?"

"Yes, dear?"

"Shut up." They burst out laughing, practically giggling at the lame joke Jack said. It must've been a strange sight. The two of them giggling together while stuck in a tight embrace in the middle of a now crowded sidewalk, attracting the occasional odd stare or side-long glance. After several minutes the two break apart with grins on their faces and go back to their walk with lighter hearts. Eventually the conversation steers itself towards an odd topic after Miranda explained to him what she meant by seeing the Master and the whole Rose thing.

"So no boyfriend waiting for you back home? Or a girlfriend?" Jack casually asks, remembering a past conversation he had with her that hasn't actually happened for her yet.

"No way. I didn't have time for that." Is what she should've said to cease his prodding. Instead she said, "Yes, actually. He's a magician that runs like a penguin." If only she could've taken a picture of Jack's face at her response, she would save it as her phone's background image. "Or maybe he's a guy with a giant chin who thinks bowties are cool. Or...what?" She asks Jack, seeing the second face he was pulling.

"Are you making fun of me?"

"Probably."

"Miranda?"

"Yes, dear?"

"Shut up." Another round of laughter. It doesn't stop until they're almost back at the Hub.

Miranda decides to ask him the same question after the laughter died down. "What about you? Find anyone that's a permanent partner or something?" She wants to hint towards him and Ianto being together. While it didn't particularly end well, if her memory serves her correctly, she still wanted someone to be there for Jack. There was no way it could be her. Her tendency to fly across time and space through the vortex at any given moment didn't exactly provide the right foundation for a stable relationship. If anything, she only wishes for Jack to be happy above all else. The same goes for the Doctor.

Jack raises an inquisitive eyebrow, peering down at the girl beside him. "Why do you ask?" He sighs when a possible answer enters his mind. "Is this about Ianto?"

"Maybe." She drawls the word out, avoiding his questioning gaze. "Just promise me you'll actually go on that date with him."

"Anything for you, Sunshine."

The two of them stand on the lift, waiting for it to take them down. The silence was comfortable but she has another question. "So, does this mean we're friends?"

"I think we've been friends for a long time now."

"Yeah, sorry. It's all a bunch of wibbly wobbly nonsense. I don't think I like it."

"You and me both."

Jack and Miranda enter the Hub to find everybody there already at work. That's when it started to happen. She could feel it this time. She wishes she didn't have to leave so abruptly. It was getting to be annoying. They lock eyes, his expression grave while her's wondered if she'd go back to the Ninth Doctor and stay there.

What came next, came out of left field. What he said, it punched her in the gut and shriveled her insides. What came in its place were toxic butterflies, fluttering their way up her throat and constricting it. "Don't go."

"Don't go where?" Her question came too late and she was already flying through the vortex. When Miranda finds that she landed back in the TARDIS with the Ninth Doctor and Rose Tyler happy at her arrival, relief flooded her veins. "Hello again."

...

It was unknown how long Jack stood there with his hand outstretched towards the empty space. It was as if he thought he was capable of reaching through the time vortex and bringing her back. His entire crew was staring, no doubt holding back hundreds of questions. They were already curious enough about his enigmatic past. This would only add fuel to the flame. Jack drops his hand and curls it tightly into a fist. His back straightens and he contemplates on fleeing the scene. The fist disappears when he claps his hands together. With a wide smile and a liveliness in his voice, Jack tells his team to get back to work as he strides away into his office.

Ianto and Gwen share a look.

"He still likes her." Ianto pauses, his tone suggesting he means it as a statement rather than a question. "Doesn't he?"

"Yeah. "


	15. everything is blue pt I

"Hello again."

Everything was a dull roar in her head until the Doctor fixed his blue eyes on her, instantly making her feel calm and settled. He reaches for her to help pick her up off the floor and she allows him to pull her into his arms. "Where'd you go?" He releases her from his grip to look her in the face, subtly scanning for any changes in her appearance to get a clue as to how long she was gone.

It took Miranda a moment to think about what answer she should give him. She diverts her attention to Rose who was watching them with interest. Giving her a small wave, she looks back up at the Doctor and holds his gaze. "Went to several places all in a span of five minutes until finally landing in Cardiff. It was confusing. And super annoying. Managed to get a nap and shower in though." She shrugs, trying her best to appear nonchalant about the small ordeal. "Nothing earth shattering, I promise."

"You promise?" The Doctor seems satisfied enough with her answer after seeing nothing physically wrong with her.

"I promise," she replies with a nod.

"Can't be too sure with you. You tend to command an earth shattering presence."

Miranda raises an eyebrow at that statement. That was new. She was almost tempted to verbally dispute it but left it alone. If she did have such an 'earth shattering presence', she could've made the Doctor listen to her earlier back with the Plastic. But that was behind her now and she needs to focus on how she can help in this next adventure.

When the Doctor falls back to his position by the console, looking over information presented to him on the screen while sneaking glances at Miranda, she makes her way beside Rose. "Where are we this time?"

"1860. Christmas." Rose told her with a wide grin, itching to run out the doors and take her first steps in the past. Miranda responds with her own small smile, mind already wandering to what she remembered from this episode. Rose interrupts her train of thought by grabbing her hand and dragging her to the door before the Doctor stopped them in their tracks.

"Hey, where do you think you're going?"

"1860."

"Go out there dressed like that, you'll start a riot, Barbarella. There's a wardrobe through there. First left, second right, third on the left, go straight ahead, under the stairs, past the bins, fifth door on your left. Hurry up!" Rose and Miranda began strolling through the TARDIS, both of them scrambling to remember the quick directions the Doctor gave them. The TARDIS had assisted them in finding the way by showing a lit up path. Miranda strokes the wall with a faint smile, silently thanking the ship. She hums pleasantly in response.

Rose had found her dress that was appropriate for the time period right away but Miranda was left staring blankly at the multiple rows of dresses. She would've chosen something similar to Rose's but she knew the dress would be at least nine years out of date. Not that she cared about that sort of thing and not that she was going to tell Rose to change out of her beautiful dress. While Rose was in the middle of tying up her blonde hair, she kept suggesting the dresses whose neckline dipped too low for her comfort. "Why?"

The only answer she got was a silent shrug and a mischievous grin. Miranda didn't like what Rose was trying to imply and steered away from the more revealing dresses and to the ones that had sleeves. There was no way she was going to wear one of the dresses Rose picked out for her around the Doctor. Except for this one. The last dress Rose picked out for her was perfect. It was like her's except with a higher neckline and short sleeves. And instead of a pink trim, it was blue. Little details she didn't dwell on for too long because she was having a hard time with the corset.

"Rose...? How do you...?" The girl rushed over after inspecting herself in the mirror, helping her with the corset. Miranda let out a laugh when she finished. "I don't see the point of this. We're never going to dress up again after this, you know."

"Really?"

Miranda hums in response. After a final look over, the two exit the wardrobe and follow the winding path back to the console room. They find the Doctor working under the console, tools scattered across the grating. His head pops up and a look of instant surprise blooms over his face at the sight of his companions. "Blimey!"

Rose points at him with the hand that wasn't currently squeezing Miranda's upper right arm and holding her out like she's on display. Miranda was about to protest but Rose cut her off by warning the Doctor. "Don't laugh."

There was a tick of silence as the Doctor's gaze traveled from Rose's grinning face to Miranda's puzzled expression. "You look beautiful, considering..." His voice trails off, head bowing to avoid her stare, feeling his hearts clench tightly in his chest. And then he felt something else. He glances back up and he could've sworn he saw the faintest of smiles hidden on her face.

Miranda didn't expect to be rendered speechless by the Doctor's words. Mostly because those words were supposed to be directed at Rose, not her. At least that's how it went on the show. Except it's not just a show anymore, she reminds herself. She laughs unexpectedly, not quite sure how to respond to the compliment. "...what?"

The Doctor was just as slow as her with his response, unlike how he was with Rose in the episode. "...that you're human."

The delicate touch of Rose's fingers brushing down her arm and letting go is what brings Miranda back to Earth before she has a chance to over think. Rose interjects when she sees the situation starting to spiral downwards, "I think that's a compliment. Aren't you going to change?" Miranda couldn't be more grateful for the subject change.

"I've changed my jumper. Come on." He jumps up from his position underneath the console and goes to head for the doors.

Before he had a chance to open them, Rose rushes passed him. "You stay there. You've done this before. This is mine." The doors shut behind her as she took her first steps into the past, her heels digging into the freshly fallen snow. While Rose was gone and the Doctor was left staring at the floor between them, Miranda could feel her thoughts returning and starting to take root. She wasn't ready for that conversation right now, not so soon after she prodded Jack back to Ianto.

"You look nice too, Doctor..." Miranda's voice cut into his mind and he blinks, turning his head to see her looking straight at him. He noticed not for the first time how the warm orange interior lights of the Tardis played off her tan skin. She found herself studying him in the dimly lit room, waiting for his expressive blue eyes to tell her something. Both of them stayed quiet for reasons unknown to them. In the end, it was him who broke the silence with a quiet question.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." Miranda breathes out, nodding in confirmation and watching when his mouth upturns into a grin. "Well...considering." She mirrors Rose's playful smile from earlier.

"Considering what?" The Doctor sounded every bit indignant as Rose had been in the episode, crossing his arms.

"That you're an alien." Miranda bounds up to him, her 'not from his century' boots clanging against the floor, and gently releases a crossed arm away from his chest to grip his hand. She feels his fingers curl tightly in hers, giving her permission to drag him through the doors. His small laugh follows her. "Let's not keep Rose waiting."

All three of them bound down the snowy street, ready to face 1860 Naples. Or so they thought.

"Ready for this? Here we go. History."


	16. everything is blue pt II

**A/N: I blame Fallout 4 for this late update. However, the next chapter will finally wrap up this episode and head into other things. Also whoa, how about that series finale? **

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Miranda often wonders about the future. She didn't like talking about it when she was a teenager. Her dislike for it only increased over the last three years. But now it's one of the main topics on her mind nowadays and she's been forced to think intently about it. Not necessarily her own future, but rather the future of 'Doctor Who'. She knew very little details about the upcoming new series before she left home. What will happen to the Twelfth Doctor and Clara? How would their story end?

She hears screaming but pays little attention to it. Following the Doctor and Rose mechanically, she trails behind them as they round a corner into a theater.

More like, how will her story end? When it comes time for her to help them out in their new unknown adventures, Miranda will be left behind in the dust. The Doctor will find out she's not actually 'some psychic', the truth will come out, and everything will be potentially ruined. Unless he finds out beforehand which could prove devastating as she's not prepared to face the consequences of her lie. Not now at least. Or ever. Miranda was unsure if she would be good as a liar. She's barely made it this far, riding on the coat tails of a poorly spun lie. It was obvious she was no Clara when it came to lying and taking control.

A whirlwind of pinned up blonde hair and shouting dashes passed her. Miranda twirls around to chase after Rose to the carriage that was parked outside. Rose was in the middle of being tossed inside the hearse when Miranda came bounding up, demanding entrance into the carriage. There was a comment about her raggedy boots not only being made for running but for door breaking and curb stomping before she was permitted entrance. The carriage was off and she was left alone to her thoughts again.

It was back to more serious questions and thoughts and ramblings. Pondering about how her story ends. Reflecting over how her story began. Debating about how her story's middle will turn out. Death was a very real possibility for her end. She was no stranger to it. Death never happened to her. Death happened around her, starting with two important people in her life.

Humans were incredibly fragile when it came to death.

And she is just another fragile human.

Miranda knew very well that everybody dies.

Including her.

It was only a matter of figuring out when and where during this lifelong adventure she would hit her expiration date.

But before her story should end, Miranda needs to figure out one other thing. And it was that everybody lives. Doesn't have to be just this once. But all the time. It could start with her. It already started with Father Octavian and Raffalo. It went a step further when she realized she could possibly change certain events. It could continue.

The rustling and jostling sounds of the hearse stopping wakes her up to the world. Miranda jumps out of the carriage, making sure they didn't drop Rose along the way into the Chapel of Rest. The doors shut behind her and every little noise amplified, reverberating against her exploding eardrums. Knees hit the floor, the vibrations coursing through her body and knocking every nerve out of place. There were voices that didn't belong to Sneed or Gwyneth echoing and bouncing around her head. Next, there was unfamiliar fast moving images that played across her vision like an unstoppable slideshow. She tries catching and holding onto the pictures to get a grasp on what was going on with her. Vikings, daleks, girl in a long scarf, red lipstick wearing Clara, a magician playing electric guitar. Words on repeat. 'Let me be brave.' 'I show mercy'.

In the distance, she hears the Doctor knocking on the door. Gwyneth brushes by her on the floor, her body twisting around in discomfort. It wasn't until she heard Gwyneth speak to the Doctor that she realizes what was happening. Was that a trailer for series 9 she just saw? That particular question only opened the floodgate for more questions. After the searing pain subsided from her mind, Miranda crawls down the hallway until she felt stable enough to stand. When standing became less of an issue, she starts bounding through the halls to where she assumed Rose's location was at. The Doctor was following close behind. She hadn't heard him speak to her at all. All she could hear was an electric guitar playing the Doctor Who theme and 'Pretty Woman'. Any remaining noises stop when she thrusts her boot into the locked door, demonstrating her ability to kick down doors.

"Damsel in distress, here I am," announces Miranda as she grabs Rose away from the walking corpse. Rose was pulled in towards the Doctor who placed a protective arm around his new companion. Charles Dickens exclaims that it's a prank. Rose asks about the new person and accepts the Doctor's answer easily. The gas corpse person starts speaking about them being trapped and dying. These small conversations skimmed over her head. She's heard all this before multiple times from showing her family and friend the show.

Miranda swears she only blinked and they were suddenly in the living room, the entire group engrossed in the current situation. "-and don't think I didn't feel your hands having a quick wander, you dirty old man!" Said dirty old man starts sputtering, trying hard to defend himself. Before he could open his mouth to speak properly, Miranda interjects.

"Yeah, you did." Her voice was firm, not leaving any room for an argument from Sneed. Rose turns to stare at the girl who saved her, chest heaving with unexpended anger. "Sorry. I did threaten him with violence if that helps any." It was the Doctor's turn to stare at Miranda but she waves him off, letting Rose continue berating Sneed. It was rather amusing after all. When Rose told Sneed to talk, he went off about the house being haunted and the dearly departed becoming restless.

Dickens merely shakes his head in disbelief and mutters, "Tommyrot." There was no stopping the small muffled laugh from Miranda at his usage of the dated phrase. Never in her life would she have heard it being said if it wasn't for this show. Nobody swivels their heads in her direction however, all of them too into their talk about the dead walking among the living to take notice.

Miranda watches Gwyneth hand the Doctor a cup of tea, two sugars just how he likes it. Hopefully she'll just give her ice water. Hot tea wasn't a favorite of her's. Gwyneth peeks over at her strangely causing a brief flash of terror to overtake her, freezing her solid in place. How could she forget that Gwyneth was a psychic? An actual, real psychic. Not a fake like her. Would she expose her lies to the Doctor? Would she be the one to tell him the truth? Miranda did her best to shut down her mind, composing a carefully blank face in an attempt to throw off the psychic.

This only made Gwyneth openly stare at her from across the room. She gets up and retreats from the room to head for the pantry she knows Rose and her will have a 'girl talk' later. The Doctor spares her a glance while he was in the middle of chastising Charles for not believing. Her being in the pantry might disrupt or prevent her and Rose's bonding time. Which means Rose might not argue with the Doctor about letting the gas people using Gwyneth. Not that Rose's argument changes the Doctor's mind.

So it should be fine, right?

A loud explosive sigh escapes her when she bangs her hands against the sink in the pantry. Suppose she could start doing Rose's job and begin washing up the dishes in here. Reminds her a bit too much of doing chores back home. The thought of home is soon chased away by the thought of Gwyneth dying. She can't let that happen, can she? Was there a way out of this so that nobody has to die and the situation is resolved peacefully? Except the Gelth turned hostile and wanted to kill the entire human race so their bodies can used as vessels...yeah, this wasn't going to work. She could convince the Doctor to listen to her about how he shouldn't pity the Gelth, even if their race was affected by the Time War. Oh but Gwyneth would still want to help because she considers the Gelth her angels or something along that line. And once she stands under that arch in the morgue, she's dead. There had to be a way around this so that she doesn't have to die.

"Who has to die, miss?"

Behind her stood Gwyneth but no Rose. She joins her next to the sink, studying her features carefully. Miranda huffs, avoiding the other woman's eyes. When she doesn't answer, Gwyneth keeps on talking. "You and your friend, Rose...you both have thoughts about death. Rose has been thinking about her father lately more than ever. And you...you were ready to embrace death's arms. And they...they were referring to you, weren't they?"

"Uh. What?" Miranda blinks, her mind drawing a blank. That was a first.

"That...thing. The vat full of plastic. You couldn't understand it. And then it spoke. 'Timelord. His constant companion. Death.' It meant you. The archangel of death."

"Ooh, intrigue," Miranda retorts, eyebrows furrowing when she didn't immediately explain her cryptic words. "Mind telling me what you mean?"

"You. You're constantly in a state between living and dying. They've given you a name because of this. Because you have knowledge of future events...don't you, miss? We may have gained our information through different means but we're the same."

"I doubt that," she interrupts but Gwyneth keeps on going.

"I've had the sight ever since I was a little girl. Every night, voices in my head."

"Because you grew up on top of the rift," Miranda tells her, remembering what the Doctor said in reference to Gwyneth being the key.

"I've tried to make sense of it. I've consulted spiritualists, table rappers, all sorts. Then you come along with an infinite stream of knowledge pouring out of your head and give me an answer that has to do with what's going on right now in the present. Except something else has given you your sight. I'm...I'm sorry, miss. I don't understand."

Miranda sighs, guessing that the girl can't figure out how to describe television and Netflix. "Yeah, it's fine. I already know where I get my information."

"No, miss. It's not that. There's another source behind your sight." She watches Gwyneth's face flicker between varying emotions before going blank. "Your head is nothing but a void cradling the endless screams of the damned."

For the second time that night, Miranda's mind is completely empty, unsure as to what to think about what's going on. "Well, that's a bit much."

Gwyneth doesn't stop speaking, her next words sending a pang of unknown emotion straight through Miranda. "You have a lonely heart that turned into a stone heart. Until one day another with a lonely heart cuts through and transforms it into a vulnerable heart. But you, miss, are a girl with thick skin and an elastic heart. It'll be a shame when it becomes a dead heart. But your friend, Rose, and the things she's seen. There's a connection there. The darkness, the big bad wolf..." The servant girl breaks out of whatever overtook her, stepping back from Miranda. "I-I'm sorry, miss."

"Yeah...yeah, whatever." She waves away her unneeded apologies, still overwhelmed by this new information. Forget worrying about Gwyneth revealing her secret for she's revealed so much more. The only bad part is that none of it made sense to her.

Before their conversation could go further, the Doctor steps into the room and Miranda doesn't like the look on his face.


End file.
